Nearly 9,800 returns prepared, only three filed under fixed tax scheme

Only three newly registered shopkeepers have filed their tax returns under the government's one percent fixed tax scheme, while around 9,800 have prepared returns but not yet submitted them to the Federal Board of Revenue, Express News reported on Friday.

The government has set a Rs50 billion collection target from traders under the scheme for the current fiscal year, but only Rs3.25 crore had been collected by Friday. The Ministry of Finance said that a total of 428 returns had been filed, but only three were from new taxpayers.

According to officials, 1,929 new traders registered with the tax system for the first time; 57 of them prepared returns but had not filed them. Ajmal Baloch, a prominent trader leader involved in negotiating the scheme, also had not filed his return as of Friday. He said he could not file because of his busy schedule and would complete the process soon.

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Bilal Azhar Kayani reviewed the scheme's implementation and urged trader leaders to play their role in making it successful. The meeting noted technical difficulties faced by traders in filing returns online. Kayani directed the FBR to resolve the technical objections raised by shopkeepers and tax lawyers immediately and to provide FBR plates to filers soon.

The minister said the fixed tax scheme is a special facility for shopkeepers, exempting them from audit and installation of digital transaction devices, with only one percent tax on turnover.

Meanwhile, the salaried class paid about Rs630 billion in tax last fiscal year, while bringing traders into the tax net has long been a challenge for governments. Officials said around 9,806 shopkeepers had prepared returns and were expected to file them by September 30. Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance that the scheme had a slow start and required measures to improve it.