Daily Times

All four Provincial Revenue Authorities are committed to working in close coordination with each other to redress the problems being faced by the taxpayers. An Inter-Provincial Coordination Meeting was hosted by the Punjab Revenue Authority at its Headquarters on Monday. The participants included Mr. Mushtaque Kazmi, Adviser SRB, Mr. Misri Ladhani, Chairman BRA, Mr. Iftikhar Qutub, Advisor KPRA and Mr. Zainul Abidin Sahi, Chairperson PRA.

The authorities took cognisance of the issues relating to multiple compliances and inter-jurisdictional adjustment that were causing hardship for the taxpayers and discussed in detail the possible solutions to all such issues. It was unanimously decided that the best way forward lay in automation and a further enhancement of the close coordination between the four provincial revenue authorities. While discussing the development of a single portal/single return for sales tax, the participants expressed concern over the lack of progress after the meeting held at FBR Headquarters on July 11, 2019. It was decided that the Provincial Revenue Authorities will hold a meeting with PRAL in the coming week to resolve any pending technical or policy matters so that the single return can be launched as early as possible. It was also decided that in case FBR needed further time for the project, the Provinces will consider incrementally moving towards a single return for the Provinces, beginning with the major sectors that operated across Provinces. This will reduce the number of declarations per year from 60 to 24 and if FBR also decided to join in instantly, the number will fall further to 12, i.e. one return for all sales tax jurisdictions.

It was also decided in the meeting that PRA would conduct a comparative analysis of the respective sales tax laws of all Provinces and identify the major areas of difference, after which a team comprising representatives of all four Authorities will work towards harmonization of laws and rules.

The representatives further decided to move towards a negative list of services in order to make compliance easier and avoid unnecessary litigation. All four Provincial Revenue Authorities will include the necessary legal amendments in the next Finance Bill. Data sharing among the Provinces was also discussed. SRB and KPRA expressed concern over the delay in the full implementation of STRIVe, already implemented in PRA, in their respective Provinces. The matter of data sharing with FBR required for the implementation of STRIVe was decided to be taken up with FBR and PRAL again.

Other important matters including taxation of telecommunications sector, life insurance and incentives for the revival of the construction sector were also discussed at length. All the participants reiterated that cooperation and coordination among the Provincial Revenue Authorities was essential for the optimization of revenue and providing maximum ease of doing business.