FBR Amends Tax Laws, Introduces Penalties For Defaulters.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified amendments in the tax laws pertaining to the greenfield industry as well as traders and retailers falling under the tier-1 classification.

According to an FBR notification, any land which has not been used for any commercial, industrial or manufacturing will fall under the greenfield status in light of the amendments introduced through the presidential ordinance.

The FBR’s circular also introduced prescribed penalties for tax defaulters falling under the tier-1 category.

According to the new rules, the traders and grocery sellers under tier-1 might have their shops sealed or fined massively while vendors may also face imprisonments for failing to register with FBR’s computerized monitoring and tracking system.

According to the changes, traders and shopkeepers who tamper with the FBR’s system might face a fine of up to Rs500,000 or up to 200% of the taxes, which have been evaded.

Similarly, those failing to file taxes with the FBR’s system might face up to Rs1 million in penalties, according to the new rules.

The repeat offenders would have their shops sealed and an additional Rs1 million fine would be slapped over non-compliance within six months of the first penalty.