- The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Pakistan has conflicting accounts regarding the chargeability of extra sales tax and further sales tax by power distribution companies from flour mills.
- The Chief Commissioner of Regional Tax Office Quetta has requested the FBR Inland Revenue (Policy) to issue guidelines on the charge of further tax and extra tax by electricity distribution companies.
- The confusion has led to issues for the court and the industry.
- The High Court of Balochistan has ruled that the provisions of SRO 1222(1)/2021 are not applicable to flour mills that are exempt from sales tax.
- QESCO, an electricity distribution company, is charging extra tax and further tax from flour mills that are not on the active taxpayers list (ATL) maintained by the FBR and have not obtained a sales tax registration number.
- The issue has been brought to the attention of the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) and the Pakistan Flour Mills Association.
- The Lahore High Court has ruled in favor of the department, upholding the levy of extra tax and further tax on electricity supply.
- There are conflicting judgments from the High Courts of Balochistan and Lahore on whether flour mills need to be registered and file tax returns to avail the benefit of SRO 509(1)/2013 read with SRO 1222(1)/2021.
- A CPLA has been filed before the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the judgment of the High Court of Balochistan.
- Flour mills have filed contempt applications before the High Court of Balochistan and have requested redressal of grievances from the Pakistan Flour Mills Association.
- The RTO Quetta is seeking guidance from the FBR on the issue.
Source: brecorder.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
