- App developed in consultation with traders: minister.
- FinMin Aurangzeb urges all sectors to come into tax net.
- Finance minister terms sales tax evasion criminal act.
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday launched a mobile application for the fixed tax scheme aimed at bringing small traders and shopkeepers into the tax net.
Addressing a press conference alongside Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in Islamabad, State Minister for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani said that the retailer scheme app was developed in consultation with traders.
He said trader leaders had also been involved in preparing the app, adding that the scheme was intended to expand the country’s tax base.
Kayani said the app would also facilitate shopkeepers who were not currently part of the tax net to become filers.
The federal government introduced the scheme for small shop owners in June as part of its ongoing efforts to expand tax collection and document the economy.
Kayani had said in June that the scheme carried a fixed tax rate of 1%, while any withholding tax already deducted would be adjusted against it.
Under the scheme, eligible retailers would be required to submit a simple one-page declaration form, available in Urdu, Pashto, Sindhi and Balochi languages, he added.
The minister said that participants would be required to deposit a minimum of Rs25,000 at the time of filing the form, irrespective of the amount of withholding tax already deducted.
Businesses with higher turnover would pay tax at 1% according to their sales volume, he added.
Meanwhile, in today’s presser, Finance Minister Aurangzeb said that the tax system played an important role in the economy and stressed the need for all sectors to come into the tax net.
“If any segment does not come into the tax net, the tax system cannot function,” he added.
Kayani said that small shopkeepers can file their tax returns through the app, adding that the app would be available in local languages by the first week of September.
FinMin Aurangzeb said that the government was also working to simplify tax returns for salaried individuals.
“The tax return form for the salaried class should not be more than six or eight pages,” he added.
He said that the existing tax return form was not simple enough for an MBA graduate to file without assistance.
Aurangzeb also described sales tax evasion as a criminal act, saying sales tax collected from consumers was not always deposited into the national exchequer.
“Sales tax evasion is taking place on a large scale,” he said.
Separately, Finance Minister Aurangzeb said that the government has requested an exchange stabilisation facility from the United States, adding that progress could come by September.
“The request from Pakistan is with the US Treasury,” Aurangzeb told the media, saying work was also underway to extend the maturities of bilateral loans.
“We want to take the maturity of bilateral loans to 10 years,” the finance czar said, with different options being considered to extend the repayment period.
The finance minister said that Pakistan was engaged in discussions with the US institutions as part of the ongoing efforts.
