Supply of electricity, gas: Cell established to process requests for concessionary tariff

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has established an Export-Oriented Sectors Registration Cell (ESRC) to process requests for concessionary tariff rates on supply of electricity and gas.

According to an order issued by the FBR here on Thursday, the board in pursuance of the Sales Tax Circular No 4 of 2020 dated December 30 has established an ESRC for the manufacturers of export-oriented sectors (the erstwhile zero-rated sectors) to process requests for concessionary tariff rates on supply of electricity and gas.

The ESRC, which went into operation on Thursday, would examine the particulars and recommendations of the respective associations and counter-verify particulars of the taxpayers including declarations in the registration profile etc. as required and forward the case to the ministry of commerce for further action.

Moreover, it would liaise with the field formation of Inland Revenue (IR) for ground-check, report and recommendations if discrepancies in the verification report and data available with the FBR are spotted.

Earlier, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has directed the FBR, the Ministry of Commerce and other stakeholders to devise a standard operating procedure (SOP) for enrollment of registered persons under the export-oriented sectors (the erstwhile zero-rated sectors) to qualify concessionary regime of electricity, RLNG and gas tariff.

Accordingly, the SOP was finalized at a meeting held at the FBR on December 22, 2020. According to the agreed SOPs, applicants may apply through respective representative association for new registration of manufacturers for concessionary tariff rates.

The association concerned may forward the application after verifying the particulars, along with its element recommendations, duly signed by its chairman/president, to the ESRC.

Then, the cell shall examine the particulars and recommendations of the respective associations and counter-verify particulars of the taxpayer including declarations in the registration profile etc. as required and forward the case to the Ministry of Commerce for allowing concessionary tariff through respective DISCOs/gas companies.

In case the ESRC spots any discrepancies in the verification report and data available with the FBR, the matter will be referred to Inland Revenue field formations for ground-check, report and recommendations. Moreover, the newly-enrolled taxpayers shall be entitled to avail concessionary tariff prospectively.

The DISCOs/gas companies shall ensure that the taxpayers are active on the FBR’s (sales tax) active taxpayers list (ATL) as shared with DISCOs/gas companies each month before generating the monthly utility bill.

In case the taxpayer is found non-active on the ATL, standard utility tariff shall apply on supply of utilities for the relevant period.

Any taxpayer aspiring to avail concessionary utility rates and who is not registered with the respective sector association may approach the IR field formation concerned for verification of their business particulars and onward submission of report to the ESRC within 15 days of the submission of the application.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021