The government has announced a major fixed tax scheme for small traders ahead of the new federal budget.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani said traders with annual sales of Rs200 million or less would pay a fixed tax of one per cent under the new scheme. He said traders seeking to benefit from the facility must have declared annual sales of up to Rs200 million during the previous three years.
Kayani said traders will be required to choose either the voluntary scheme or the normal tax regime, adding that the government had set a target of increasing the number of registered small traders from 600,000 to 3.5 million and bringing more than 3.5 million traders into the tax net.
He said a trader with an annual turnover of Rs200 million would pay Rs25,000 in tax under the scheme.
Kayani warned that non-filer traders who fail to register would face penalties. "A fine of Rs10,000 would apply in the first month, rising to Rs25,000 in the second month. Traders who continue to remain unregistered would face a monthly fine of Rs50,000," Kayani maintained.
He said a simple one-page registration form had also been prepared for traders. Under the scheme, filer traders will display a board carrying their name and National Tax Number (NTN), while information will be accessible through a QR code printed on the board.
Kayani said that no Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officer would be permitted to enter the premises of a registered trader under the new scheme.
He added that small traders registered under the scheme would not be subject to audits and would not be required to install a Point of Sale (POS) system.
Kayani said any audit in major cases could be conducted in consultation with the traders' representative committees.
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