Additional tax to be imposed on non-filer entities via electricity bills

KARACHI: The federal authorities have started preparations to impose an additional tax on non-filer commercial entities through electricity bills which would lead to the traders and shopkeepers charging it from the customers.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Asim Ahmed decided to take strict action against those shopkeepers who are non-filers. The authorities planned to impose an additional tax on electricity bills of 2.5 million retailers who are unregistered and non-filers of the income tax.

In this regard, if the electricity bills of such shopkeepers are less than Rs20,000, 5% tax will be levied. If the electricity bill is more than 20,000, the tax rate will be up to 7.5%.

If the electricity bill is less than Rs30,000 then Rs3,000 tax is being levied. If the electricity bill is more than Rs30,000, an additional tax of Rs 5,000 will be levied on it.

If the monthly electricity bill of the shop exceeds Rs50,000, an additional tax of Rs10,000 will be levied.

The FBR chairman said that the action is being taken against tax evaders who are collecting sales tax from the public but they are not submitting it to the national exchequer.

According to economists, the shopkeepers will not pay this amount out of their own pockets but will collect the price from the customers by increasing the price of the goods. These measures of the government will lead to increase in inflation, they added.