The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asked provinces to propose any change in the existing legislative framework developed for the implementation of the Single Sales Tax Return (SSTR) for the telecom sector.
According to a letter of the FBR to the provinces on Wednesday, in pursuance of the government’s desire to facilitate taxpayers, promote ease of doing business, and reduce compliance costs, FBR in collaboration with Provincial Tax Authorities has launched Single Sales Tax Return (SSTR) for the telecom sector across all jurisdictions vide circular dated February 1, 2024.
The SSTR has been developed after rounds of negotiations between FBR, Provincial Revenue Administrations and the Telecom Sector under the auspices of the Committee constituted vide Notification No.2878-IR-I/ 2023 dated 20th October, 2023 for the Design Development & Implementation of Single Portal, and Single Portal Committee constituted.
The SSTR has been used by the Telecom Sector to submit their returns for month of January in February 2024.
The SSTR has been developed in line with the existing legal framework for Sales Tax at the Federal and Provincial levels, therefore, any changes to Sales Tax Rules will require significant development work at the backend to ensure that the SSTR remains aligned with applicable laws/rules/procedures, etc.
In view of this, the FBR has requested that any changes being proposed to the existing legislative framework for Sales Tax Returns that are likely to affect the implementation of Single Sales Tax Returns may be intimated to the Design Development & Implementation Committee of Single Portal through Chief (Provincial Taxes) so that the provincial revenue authorities are taken on board, FBR added.
