ISLAMABAD: Big retail units shall be sealed till their integration with the online system of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for sharing sales and purchases.
Sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that the big retail units are required to integrate their outlets with the FBR under Sales Tax Act, 1990.
However, those retailers who failed to integrate their outlets with the FBR would face punitive action as defined in the statute.
The sources said that through Finance Act, 2020 amendment has been made related to penalty for non-compliance for linkage of sales and purchase data with the FBR.
According to amendment made to Sales Tax Act, 1990, any person, who is required to integrate his business for monitoring, tracking, reporting or recording of sales, production and similar business transactions with the board or its computerized system, fails to get himself registered under the Act, and if registered, fails to integrate in the manner as required under law.
“Such person shall be liable to pay a penalty up to one million rupees, and if continues to commit the same offence after a period of two months after imposition of penalty as aforesaid, his business premises shall be sealed till such time he integrates his business in the manner as stipulated under sub-section (9A) of Section 3 or Section 40C, as the case may be.”
All tier-1 retailers are required to integrate all their POSs with FBR’s computerized system.
Tier-1 retailer is defined in section 2(43A) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, to be a person who falls in any of the following categories:
(a) a retailer operating as a unit of a national or international chain of stores;
(b) a retailer operating in an air-conditioned shopping mall, plaza or centre, excluding kiosks;
(c) a retailer whose cumulative electricity bill during the immediately preceding twelve consecutive months exceeds Rupees twelve hundred thousand;
(d) a wholesaler-cum-retailer, engaged in bulk import and supply of consumer goods on wholesale basis to the retailers as well as on retail basis to the general body of the consumers; and
(e) a retailer, whose shop measures one thousand square feet in area or more.
The FBR extended date for retailers to integrate their Point of Sale (POS) up to August 31, 2020.
The last date for integrating the POS for Tier-1 retailers was previously June 30, 2020.
The FBR said that only those retailers can integrate their POS by August 31 who submit their intention to RTOs/LTUs by August 20, 2020.
FBR sources said that the decision had been taken due to lockdown in the many parts of the country in order to prevent spread of coronavirus the business activities had become stand still.
The deadline was expired on December 15, 2019 which was given by the FBR to tier-1 retailers to integrate their POSs with the FBR online system. However, the date was extended in order to give opportunity to big retailers to make compliance.
