| Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has initiated a single sales tax return mechanism for the telecom sector, applicable to the tax period of January 2024, with filings scheduled for February 2024 through the Single Sales Tax Portal/Return. The development was shared in an article on February 1.
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In light of this development, the FBR issued directives to all telecom companies on Thursday. Notably, the previous sales tax return option will not be accessible for filing pertaining to January 2024 in the telecommunications sector, the FBR confirmed.
As per FBR’s guidelines, in alignment with the government’s objective to facilitate taxpayers, enhance business operations, and reduce compliance burdens, the FBR has introduced a Single Sales Tax Portal/Return. Developed in collaboration with Provincial Sales Tax Authorities (PSTAs), this portal aims to simplify the sales tax return filing process, improve user experience, minimise errors, and offer a centralised platform for accessing relevant tax data.
Furthermore, it is expected to bolster compliance, foster better communication between taxpayers and tax authorities, and streamline procedures, leading to cost savings for both parties. Through this unified platform, sales tax registered entities can submit a single sales tax return instead of multiple filings to the FBR and various PSTAs. This streamlining initiative aims to save time, efforts, and simplify the overall filing process while reducing data entry and calculation errors.
The system facilitates the distribution of input tax adjustments and tax payments across different sales tax authorities, eliminating the need for reconciliations and payment transfers. Importantly, it encourages the harmonisation of tax procedures between Federal and Provincial Government Revenue Authorities, thus contributing to national cohesion, emphasised the FBR.
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Initially, the unified sales tax return system is being launched for the telecommunications sector exclusively, covering companies such as M/S CMPak Limited, M/S Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, M/S Pak Telecom Mobile Limited, M/S Telenor Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited, and M/S Pakistan Telecommunication Company. |
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