ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) plans to enforce a tax on retailers in five major cities of the country, namely Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta, as reported on Thursday by sources.
According to the sources, this move aims to generate approximately Rs100 billion in revenue by taxing about 3.5 million retailers in these cities. To execute this plan, the board has devised a scheme.
Initially, the taxation will target retailers in the four provincial capitals along with the federal capital, as stated by the sources. They highlighted that the tax imposition will vary based on the shop’s size and its annual income, to be collected on a monthly basis.
The sources mentioned that the scheme is fully prepared and will be launched pending approval from the government.
Furthermore, they indicated that a minimum of 10% advance tax will be levied on retailers’ yearly income, clarifying that the tax will be applicable to businesspersons across various sectors.
Earlier, subsequent to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) rejection of a fixed scheme for retailers, the caretaker government finalized the ‘Tax Asaan Application.’ This application aims to collect taxes from small shopkeepers based on individual shop valuations determined by the FBR.
Official sources confirmed the near-finalization of the retailers’ scheme. The caretaker government is anticipated to authorize the launch of this scheme before the stipulated timeframe’s completion.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
