The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is considering possibilities to provide a streamlined fixed system based on store value in order to bring 3.6 million merchants into the tax net, given the poor success of the Tajir Dost system, which only registered 44,830 businesses.
Since the 1990s, at the very least, all attempts to include merchants in the tax net have failed miserably for more than thirty years.
To make any kind of difference, something new must be done; otherwise, another regular strategy will undoubtedly fail, as demonstrated by the history of our nation.
We are considering many ways to include 3.6 million merchants in the tax net, and this time the FBR intends to develop multiple slabs according to shop worth.
The Tajir Dost Scheme was introduced by the FBR on a voluntary basis in six chosen cities, with a deadline of April 30, 2024. Only 78 merchants, though, managed to register them.
Following that, the FBR included merchant leader Naeem Mir and carried out its registration campaign. Out of more than 3 million shops nationwide, just 44,830 have chosen to participate in the program thus far.
The ruling class and FBR were constantly compelled to take severe measures against retailers by the shutter power. In the recent past, the FBR had attempted to collect taxes through power bills and the size of the stores, but each attempt had been unsuccessful.
Point of Sale (POS) devices were put in branded stores; but, due to inadequate technology, an ineffective operational framework, and a disorganized attitude within the ranks of the FBR, all IT-based solutions—including POS, Track & Trace, and Digital Invoicing—failed miserably.
Senior FBR officials contended that the lack of a unified strategy for documenting the economy in our nation stemmed from the absence of a physical mechanism for the registration of retail establishments. Therefore, without assigning a staff, the state essentially anticipates that the FBR would register every merchant and subsequently bring them into the tax net.
The retailers’ fixed system will be introduced by the FBR the following week. A paltry sum of Rs12,000 was supposed to be collected from shopkeepers based on a monthly payment of Rs1,000. The stores will need to fill out a reduced form.
