ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and four provincial revenue authorities have extended the scope of Single Sales Tax Return (SSTR) to two more sectors – oil and gas and microfinance banks. Agreed to increase. current month.
Earlier, only Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) were filing SSTRs.
A senior FBR official confirmedThe Newssaid on Friday that they have developed an app for filing SSTR and now its scope will be extended to include two more important sectors of the economy. He added that this facility would be extended to all major sectors of the economy in the coming months.
To another question, he said the provincial tax authorities have to come up with unified tax rates to achieve harmonized GST for both goods and services. Under the 1973 constitutional provision and incorporation of the 18th Amendment, GST on goods is under the jurisdiction of the Center and GST on services is under the jurisdiction of the provinces. Pakistan has agreed to have a harmonized GST system under the terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank loan, including uniform tax rates and SSTR filing.
In reply to a question, the official said that under the IMF agreement it was committed that the country would move from positive to negative list for GST on services. This can be difficult due to persistent differences on the definition of goods and services as provinces may prefer to levy GST on services and this can become a major bone of contention between the Center and the federal units. “This ongoing debate will intensify when the first draft of the negative list under GST on services comes up for discussion,” he added.
According to the FBR announcement made here on Friday, the revenue authority of the center and all the provincial revenue authorities namely Balochistan Revenue Authority, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority, Sindh Revenue Board and Punjab Revenue Authority have unanimously extended the scope of SSTR. Agreed to expand to two more sectors. E&P (oil and gas) companies and microfinance banks. Taxpayers registered in both these sectors are now required to file sales tax return on SSTR for December, 2024 and onwards for the tax period November, 2024. SSTR is now accessible through a single portal i.e. www.iris.fbr.gov.pk.