Islamabad (TDI): The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has revised its Tajir Dost Scheme by halting door-to-door market surveys and small shopkeeper registrations.
Instead, FBR will focus on large retailers and shopkeepers using data from electricity bills and returns. The goal is to meet the Rs. 50 billion revenue target for 2024-25 by prioritizing wholesale and upscale retail markets rather than small traders.
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According to a statement, the FBR will now register big retailers and shopkeepers/traders on the basis of analysis of returns, data security and commercial electricity consumption data by suspending the existing policy of fixed tax per shop/retail outlet.
This policy revision has been endorsed by the IMF or not will be the biggest question mark as the Tajir Dost Scheme failed to fetch the desired revenue collection.
In the first quarter the target was envisaged at Rs10 billion and for the second quarter (Oct-Dec) period, the TDS collection was aimed to go up to Rs23.4 billion.
The FBR and IMF agreed for collection of Rs50 billion through TDS during the current fiscal year
Yet the FBR fetched tax revenues of just Rs1.7 million from TDS across the country.
Under the revised policy, the FBR intends to register retailers based on credible information of concealment/evasion and not physical surveys of the shops. The door-to-door surveys of markets will not be carried out. The collection of fixed amounts of tax from each shop, irrespective of size, would not done under the revised policy.
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The decision has been taken during a meeting held between the FBR team of members with Muhammad Naeem Mir, chief coordinator of Tajir Dost Scheme-2024, at the FBR.
