KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is considering making National Tax Number (NTN) mandatory for commercial electricity connections to increase the number of taxpayers as well as to boost revenue collection.
Sources told Customs Today that the recommendation to make NTN mandatory for obtaining electricity connection for commercial purposes was received by the board from Karachi Tax Bar Association in the budget proposals for the fiscal year 2016-17.
The KTBA said that at present a large number of persons doing business, either as retailer or manufacturer, on small scale are not registered. “This leads to a loss of revenue for the government,” the KTBA said.
In order to bring such persons into the tax net, it is suggested that the condition of obtaining a NTN should be made mandatory for new commercial electricity connections and for three phase electricity connections used for manufacturing purposes, registration for sales tax should be made mandatory. “This proposed alteration will promote tax culture and increase revenue collection,” the KTBA added.
