ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is set to commence the registration of traders for its Tajir Dost Scheme in its bid to rope in five major categories of traders into the tax net, The News reported on Saturday.
The FBR’s scheme will focus on wholesalers, dealers, retailers, furniture and decoration showrooms, jewellers, cosmetics stores, grocery, medical and hardware stores, meat shops, vegetables and fruits outlets, motor vehicle showrooms, fertiliser, pesticide and chemical dealers in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Those required to get themselves registered as part of the FBR’s scheme also include manufacturer-cum-retailers as well as importer-cum-retailers. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has already approved the initiative which will soon be notified.
The scheme will also apply to any other such persons who are involved in combined retail, wholesale activities in combination with any other business activity or individuals from the supply chain.
The development comes as the country’s primary tax-collection body has directed the selected tax offices and bank branches to remain operational on the weekend to achieve its monthly tax collection target of Rs879 billion for the month of March after it reported a revenue of around Rs850 billion on Friday.
Expressing his views on the FBR’s initiative, an official has said that the scheme would see unregistered traders and shopkeepers applying for registration under Section 181 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 via either the Tax Asaan App or through FBR’s web portal or by visiting FBR’s tax facilitation centres.
The scheme will kick-off on April 1 with tax collection set to come into effect from July 1. Traders who fail to register by the April 30 deadline, will face monetary penalties under section 182 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.
The scheme provisions a 25% discount in monthly advance tax payment if a taxpayer chooses to pay the total advance tax liability in a lump sum.
Also, there will be a 25% discount on monthly advance tax payments if a non-filer files his tax return for the tax year 2023 before the July 15 due date of the first instalment of monthly advance tax.
The discount will be increased to 50% for people who also make 12 months of monthly advance tax payments for the tax year 2024in one go on July 15.
In its bid to facilitate the traders, the registration has been simplified so that there’s no need for the assistance of a tax lawyer, tax accountant or tax practitioner for registration for the FBR’s scheme.
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