ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday ordered an inquiry into collection of sales tax at increased sales tax ratio from retailers.
A statement said that Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had directed to launch an inquiry into the imposition of higher Sales Tax ratio on small traders through electricity bills other than the agreed one.
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Chairing a meeting in Lahore, he also immediately suspended the fixed Sales Tax collection through electricity bills and directed to evolve a new mechanism in this regard.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister specially asked for the inclusion of representatives of traders in consultation process prior to taking any decision for collection of taxes from small traders through the utility bills.
Shehbaz Sharif also expressed his government’s resolve to take all steps for economic protection of poor segments of the society.
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He also directed the concerned authorities and ministries concerned to immediately devise an effective mechanism for slashing the electricity rates for the poor.
It is worth mentioning that through Finance Act, 2022 the government after detailed deliberations imposed a fixed tax on retailers through electricity bills.
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The same amount of sales tax was added to the electricity bills for the month of July 2022. The electricity supply companies added the sales tax on all commercial connections irrespective of service providers and suppliers of goods.
The electricity bills created chaos and holders of commercial connections strongly agitated against the government policy. This resulted in an end to the fixed tax scheme and the government is now devising a new scheme to bring retailers into the tax net.
READ MORE: Withdrawal of sales tax through electricity bills demanded
