FBR Reconstitutes Committee to Implement Single Portal for Sales Tax Return Filing

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reconstituted the Single Sales Tax Return Design, Development & Implementation Committee for Single Portal for filing of Sales Tax returns across different sales tax jurisdictions.

According to a notification issued by the FBR on Friday, the Single Portal/SSTR for the Telecom Sector has been implemented. The development of SSTR for all sectors across jurisdictions requires further support from provinces.

In pursuance of the decision of the Chairman FBR regarding a Single Portal for filing Sales Tax returns across different sales tax jurisdictions with a view to enhance the ease of doing business in the country, the Single Sales Tax Return Design, Development & Implementation Committee comprising of the following officers of FBR and technical resource of PRAL is reconstituted in supersession of the Notification No.2878-IR-I/2023 dated 20th October 2023.

The Committee may associate any resource from FBR and PRAL for consultation with different stakeholders and Provincial Revenue Administrations (PRAs) as and when required.

The committee will ensure the development of a Single Portal for filing Single Sales Tax Return by December 2024 followed by the implementation of SSTR across jurisdictions by May 31, 2025.

The TORs of the Committee included outreach with the Chamber of Commerce and other trade bodies as required; holding consultations with all the stakeholders including the representatives of the taxpayers, field formations of FBR and PRAs to ensure that their concerns are addressed in the Single Portal/Single Sales Tax Return.

To supervise software development by PRAL, UAT by PRAs and taxpayers, and manage the transition from existing Sales Tax Returns to Single Portal Returns for all sectors.

The Supervisory Team included Ardsher Saleem Tariq (IRS/BS-21) Member (Reforms & Modernization), FBR and Aamer Amin Bhatti (IRS/BS-20) Chief (ST&FE) IR-Policy Wing, FBR.

The Implementation Team would be headed by Zain-ul-Abidin Sahi (IRS/BS-20) Chief (IT Systems), FBR. Other Members included Mahwish Khan  (IRS/BS-18) Second Secretary, (Business Process Reengineering), FBR; Fariduddin Khan (AOST/BS-18) Second Secretary (WHT), FBR  Member; Faisal Sulaiman, Senior Business Analyst, PRAL and Shahid Sharif Manager (Development), PRAL.

The Coordination & Support team includes Muhammad Khalid Jamil (IRS/BS-20) Director Program (Pakistan Raises Revenue Program), FBR, and Sadia Akmal (IRS/BS-19) Additional Director (Coordination & Internal Communication PRRP), FBR.