ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has created a new post of the Member (Digital Initiatives) to supervise/monitor the digital systems of track and trace, Synchronized Withholding Agents, point of sales (POS) and digital invoicing.

According to a notification issued by the FBR on Monday, Mir Badshah Khan Wazir, a BS-21 officer of Inland Revenue Service, presently posted as Member (IR-Operations), FBR Headquarters Islamabad is assigned the look after charge of the post of Member (Digital Initiatives), FBR during the leave period of Karamatullah Khan Chaudhry (IRS/BS-21).

The new Member would head the Directorate General of Digital Invoicing and Analysis (DGDIA), who would be responsible to integrate the whole supply chain including manufacturers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers.

Director General, Directorate-General for Digital Invoicing and Analysis shall report to the Chairman, FBR through the relevant Member.

Directorate-General for Digital Invoicing and Analysis and Synchronized Withholding Agents System would integrate the sales tax supply chain and withholding agents, respectively.

The system will link the sales data of manufacturers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers with the FBR’s system. The monthly sales tax information including payments of sales tax would be available to the FBR under the new system. Due to the online availability of data, the evasion of sales tax would not be possible.

In the presence of the availability of online data, the FBR will give concessions to the entire supply chain due to the submission of electronic information on a monthly basis. The FBR’s system would itself generate monthly sales tax returns of the said categories of the supply chain, who would be integrated with the Directorate-General for Digital Invoicing and Analysis.

The exemption from the audit is also under consideration of the FBR for the manufacturers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, who would be linked with the FBR’s system of digital invoicing.

The point of sale system of the FBR would also come under the Directorate-General for Digital Invoicing and Analysis. The data of these taxpayers are regularly entered into the FBR’s system and there would be no need for submission of monthly sales tax returns or audits.

A new Directorate-General for Digital Invoicing and Analysis has been provided in the Finance Act, 2021.

Under the new provision, the Directorate-General of Digital Invoicing and Analysis shall consist of director-general and as many directors, additional directors, deputy directors, and assistant directors and such other officers as the Board may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023