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MULTAN, Jan 31 (APP):Chambers of Commerce and Industries (CCIs) from across South Punjab and small traders representatives on Wednesday urged the government to defer linking of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector with Point of Sale (PoS) system from February 1.
Addressing a press conference, President Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Mian Rashid Iqbal claimed that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had decided in a haste to enforce its Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) 1525, 1525-D(I), and 1842(I)/2023 from February 1.
The SROs implementation should be deferred for the time being to first create awareness about them among the business community followed by their gradual enforcement in phases, he added.
He said that the FBR wanted to link the chain of FMCG sector comprising manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors and others with its Point of Sale (PoS) system. It required retailers, distributors and wholesalers to upload up-to-date and real time sales tax receipts.
He claimed that the FMCG companies were already providing requisite information through monthly sales tax returns and that new SROs would only affect the businesses of retail stores.
The FMCG companies, he said, operated under the third schedule of sales tax and “pay tax on the very first stage of supply”.
He said the retailers, whose withholding tax amount would reach Rs 100,000 in 12 e months under section 236-H of Income Tax Ordinance 2001, would be linked to the FBR’s PoS system.
“Many businesses would suffer in case of enforcement of the SROs including edible oil, Ghee, auto parts, tyres, IT accessories, electronics and others,” he said.
He said the PoS system would increase their monthly cost.
Mian Rashid Iqbal said,”The business community do believe the documented economy performs better.”
He said the SROs implementation needed some prerequisites including uninterrupted power supply, high speed Internet, trained staff. The FBR should have first come up with some software that they could use on their PoS systems, he added.