Govt to collect general sales tax in real-time through a mobile app

The government in an attempt to increase revenue from food and accommodation sector is planning to launch a mobile app for real-time collection of general sales tax (GST) charged by restaurants and hotels all across the country. The mobile app will send an instant receipt to the consumers to confirm the tax collected by restaurants and hotels. By integrating the mobile app with the tax mechanism, the government will collect taxes right away.

The finance ministry of Pakistan wrote a letter to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) informing them that all the luxury hotels and restaurants in the country are collecting GST beside their usual bills. There are many restaurants who do not provide a computerized bill to the customers and are still charging taxes to them which is not causing any benefit to the government.

The letter added, “It is unconfirmed whether the tax, charged by hotels and restaurants, is actually deposited in the national treasury within the prescribed time limit or not”.

By transferring the taxes directly to the national treasury the government will reap maximum benefit instantly. Moreover, it will also ensure the consumers that their tax payment has entered the national treasury and not in the pockets of restaurant and hotel owners.

The regional tax office of Islamabad, which is currently working under the authority of FBR, has recently installed a web-based invoice mechanism throughout the capital. The system helps FBR to regularly monitor tax payments received by the restaurants in the city. Though the data received by this system the regional tax office in Islamabad classify the restaurants in different categories and charge taxes, according to the amount of electricity and gas bills they receive.