KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made it mandatory for buyers to make payment above Rs50,000 through crossed cheque or banking instruments ensuring transfer of payment to seller’s account.
The FBR issued Sales Tax Act, 1990 updated till June 30, 2019 incorporating amendments brought through Finance Act, 2019. Under Section 73 of the Act, the FBR made it mandatory for buyers to make payment for any transaction above Rs50,000 through crossed cheque or through any banking instrument.
Section 73: Certain transactions not admissible
Sub-Section (1): Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, payment of the amount for a transaction exceeding value of fifty thousand rupees, excluding payment against a utility bill, shall be made by a crossed cheque drawn on a bank or by crossed bank draft or crossed pay order or any other crossed banking instrument showing transfer of the amount of the sales tax invoice in favour of the supplier from the business bank account of the buyer:
Provided that online transfer of payment from the business account of buyer to the business account of supplier as well as payments through credit card shall be treated as transactions through the banking channel, subject to the condition that such transactions are verifiable from the bank statements of the respective buyer and the supplier.
Sub-Section (2): The buyer shall not be entitled to claim input tax credit, adjustment or deduction, or refund, repayment or draw-back or zero-rating of tax under this Act if payment for the amount is made otherwise than in the manner prescribed in sub-section (1), provided that payment in case of a transaction on credit is so transferred within one hundred and eighty days of issuance of the tax invoice.
Sub-Section (3): The amount transferred in terms of this section shall be deposited in the business bank account of the supplier, otherwise the supplier shall not be entitled to claim input tax credit, adjustment or deduction, or refund, repayment or draw-back or zero-rating of tax under this Act.
Explanation— For the purpose of this section, the term “business bank account” shall mean a bank account utilized by the registered person for business transactions, declared to the Commissioner in whose jurisdiction he is registered 1[through Form STR-1 or change of particulars in registration database.
