ISLAMABAD: The Fed­er­al Board of Revenue (FBR) announced on Mon­day the collection of sales tax from the vendors of government departments has increased more than 50 per cent following the installation of dedicated software in July 2016.

The FBR installed the software in all district account offices in July last year to plug revenue leakages.

Addressing a ceremony, FBR Chairman Dr Muha­mmad Irshad said the successful launch of the system translated into over 50pc growth in the collection of sales tax from the vendors of government departments between July and December.

The SAP-withholding (sales) tax (automated) system is used for the deduction of one-fifth of withholding sales tax from the vendors of government departments whose bills are being processed through AG/AGPR offices.

Dr Irshad urged the controller general of accounts to extend the coverage of the system to both provincial and federal government projects.

The new measure should further strengthen the mechanism for the enhancement of revenues, he said. The FBR plans to establish such relationships with other withholding partners as well, he added.

Some headway has been made in this regard with the excise and taxation department for the transfer of online data, he said.

In this connection, a meeting with all provincial secretaries for excise and taxation departments is likely to take place in the near future, he said.

Published in Dawn January 24th, 2017