Daily Times

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is all set to roll out the much-awaited Track and Trace system this month (September) to check the tax evasion of billions of rupees at least in four major sectors including tobacco, cement, sugar, and fertilisers.

Well-placed sources in the FBR said the system would be launched from this month as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to boost the country’s revenue. They estimated the country’s annual revenue from these sectors would increase manifold after the implementation of the system.

They said the FBR had been making efforts for the last 15 years to implement the system, but it was delayed every time due to court cases and other factors. Prime Minister Khan has consistently pushed the FBR to launch the system to curb tax evasion and document the country’s economy, officials said.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has recently dismissed the civil suit of M/s SICPA against the award of track and trace system contract granted to the M/s AJCL consortium. The officials said there was no reason now to delay the implementation of the project.

The FBR has already directed sugar mills to start the process of installation of the track and trace system at the manufacturing premises of sugar factories. The FBR will notify a date after implementation of the “track and trace system” to put an end to the sale of cigarettes, sugar, cement, and fertiliser products without a tax stamp.

The FBR will confiscate the cigarettes, sugar, cement, and fertiliser without the tax stamps from the market, officials said. The manufacturers would not be able to sell cigarettes, sugar, cement, and fertilizer in the market without having tax stamps after proper implementation of the system in the country.

The officials said that tax evasion only in the tobacco sector was believed to be around Rs200 billion and such evasion compels the government to impose indirect taxes which results in inflating the prices of commodities of everyday use. The Track and Trace system aims at providing a minimum human interface, preventing leakage of revenue, under-reporting sales of specified goods, and ensuring proper payment of duty and taxes.