ISLAMABAD: The decision to link professional services online with the tax apparatus in eight major cities throughout the nation is being implemented slowly, which has alarmed interim finance minister Shamshad Akhtar.
According to official sources who spoke to Dawn on Wednesday, the FBR has still not fully implemented the decision to increase income taxes for professional service providers who receive most of their payment in cash and do not pay any taxes on it, even after more than three years.
Then-tax officials said in SRO779 in August 2020 that 12 types of service and sales providers needed to interface with FBR in order to monitor their services and sales. This decision will result in the installation of software and electronic equipment on these services’ property.
The sources claim that the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is being questioned about why the decision hasn’t been put into effect yet and that the matter has also been brought up at a senior level. Point-of-sale (POS) systems have only been installed at large merchant locations by the FBR thus far, considerably short of the desired number.
When it comes to medical professionals and consultants who work somewhere other than a hospital or polyclinic, the FBR has neglected to implement point-of-sale systems. Each patient pays more than Rs. 1,500 for the consultation. The installation of point-of-sale (POS) systems at the locations of physicians and consultants in key cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, and Peshawar was officially announced.
Sources claim that in order to track these professional service providers’ incomes, at least in the upscale parts of the major cities, the FBR neglected to install point-of-sale (POS) systems on their properties. Despite the fact that doctors profit greatly from their private practices and surgeries, there is no system in place to tax their income.
Additionally, pathological laboratories and medical diagnostic laboratories that do MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays are informed that POSs will be put on their property. According to the notification, point of sale systems (POS) must be placed in hospitals and medical care facilities that offer consultation, hospitalization, or other ancillary services.
While tax officers are busy harassing current taxpayers with computer notifications, sources claim that the caretaker administration has taken serious notice of the FBR’s failure to carry out the announced decision to enhance income from these profitable areas.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
