ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has rolled out a Single Sales Tax Portal for filing of sales tax return by provincial taxpayers in three sectors (telecom, microfinance, and oil and gas).
This has been revealed in the official documents of the World Bank. The Bank under Pakistan Raises Revenue (PRR) project has updated progress on GST return filing simplification.
According to the document, various technical challenges are being addressed as the system is being implemented. Policy changes supported under the current International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme also need to be incorporated in the Single Sales Tax Portal.
Accordingly, final targets of automatic calculation of input adjustments and refunds are extended to fiscal year 2025-26. The total Disbursement Linked Indicator (DLI-7) amount remains $41.6 million.
FBR imposes major restrictions on ST-registered persons
The bank further stated that FBR has faced initial implementation challenges in Track & Trace and electronic monitoring of production in key sectors. Later a firm, was being hired to conduct a detailed review of the design and implementation of the track and trace system.
The firm’s recommendations will help improve the implementation of the system in existing sectors as well as further rollout to additional sectors. Accordingly, the end-target date is extended to fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027 to allow time for improvements and capture results of investment. The total DLI-4 amount of $22.4 million remains unchanged.
The FBR has agreed with the WB to included targets for fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027 to align additional proposed activities and revenue mobilization efforts of the implementing agency with overall results, as well as to align with extended project duration.
PRR is an Investment Project Financing (IPF) project with an original allocation of $400 million, with a results-based component and an investment financing component.
The results-based component ($320 million or Component 1) disburses against documented execution of eligible expenditures under the Eligible Expenditure Programs and the achievement of the Disbursement Linked Indicator (DLI) targets.
These DLIs are linked with four objective areas: (i) simple and transparent tax system; (ii) effective control of taxpayers’ obligation; (iii) facilitation of compliance; and (iv) institutional development for efficiency and accountability.
The investment financing component (original allocation of $80 million, Component 2) mainly focuses on investment in the FBR’s information and communications technology (ICT) systems, including ICT equipment, software and business process improvement, cargo weighing, contactless scanning, and laboratory equipment for customs inspections (goods). It also finances consulting and non-consulting services for software development, technical assistance (TA), and training.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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