Shehbaz Sharif orders completion of digital production monitoring by December — Dawn

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to complete the installation of a digital production monitoring system in major industrial sectors by the end of December. The directive was issued at a meeting in Islamabad dedicated to FBR reforms, Dawn reports.

Monitoring for sales tax

Sharif ordered that production monitoring for sales tax purposes be ensured across all manufacturing sectors by the end of the year. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the system has already been fully installed in the sugar, cement, tobacco, tile and fertilizer industries.

In the textile industry, as well as in the production of packaged water, juices and milk, the system is still being installed, although equipment procurement has already been completed. For the steel industry, poultry farming and tyre production, equipment procurement is to be completed by October 15. For producers of tea, household electronics, leather, paper and cardboard, oil and ghee, it is to be completed by October 30.

Officials expect the systems in all the listed sectors to become fully operational by December 31. The FBR also reported that cameras are being used to monitor production as part of a contactless system.

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Tax potential

During the meeting, the prime minister was presented with a report on the gap between actual and potential tax revenues. It assessed the country’s tax potential and possible additional revenues from better compliance with tax legislation and strengthened oversight.

According to information voiced at the meeting, an additional 1.3 trillion Pakistani rupees in taxes were collected over the past three years through control measures, while tax revenues increased by 40%. Sharif said that businesses that collect taxes from consumers but do not transfer them to the state treasury are not entitled to benefits.

In the textile sector, some enterprises resisted the installation of the system. At the same time, Nishat Mills, Al-Karam Textile, Interloop Limited, Sapphire Textiles Limited and other companies voluntarily installed the monitoring system. The prime minister instructed officials to remove obstacles to installing automated systems, while the Ministry of IT was tasked with conducting an audit in other sectors to assess their effectiveness.