ISLAMABAD: Registering a growth in revenue collection from the sugar sector through implementation of Track & Trace System (TTS), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected Rs32.43 billion in the first six months (July-December) of the current Financial Year 2021-22 as against Rs29.30 billion collected in the same period last year, achieving 11pc growth.
This outcome has been achieved mainly because of the digital monitoring of sugar sector; it shows that the TTS is contributing significantly to the prevention of revenue loss and resulting in increased revenue collection.
The installation process of TTS equipment was undertaken in October and November, 2021 and all the sugar mills were delivered applicators along with tax stamps to be affixed on each sugar bag. The FBR vide STGO No.5 of 2021 had notified that no sugar bags would be allowed to be taken out of a production site or a manufacturing facility without affixation of tax stamps and Unique Identification Marking (UIMs).
However, TTS was formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 23rd November, 2021. In order to ensure enforcement of movement of sugar bags with tax stamps, the Inland Revenue Enforcement Network (IREN) was entrusted with the task to combat tax evasion in the sugar sector. Regional Enforcement hubs all across Pakistan were tasked to conduct raids on the unstamped /non-tax paid sugar. As a result, all IREN hubs intensified their operations against supply chain operators to ensure the implementation of TTS in letter and spirit.
In this regard, the Directorate of I&I (IR), Hyderabad, visited various sugar dealers in Hyderabad on 27th November, 2021 and found a stock of 172 sugar bags manufactured by M/s Chamber Sugar Mills lying in the premises of M/s Gulzar & Co without tax stamps.
The same unstamped bags were taken into custody by the IREN team, which created deterrence in the market. Since then, more than 65 raids have been conducted by regional IREN hubs of Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta and Peshawar in various cities and towns across the country but no sugar bags were found without tax stamps. It is pertinent to mention that the Federal Board of Revenue initiated the implementation of Track and Trace System (TTS) in September, 2021 immediately after the vacation of stay by the Sindh High Court on 20th August, 2021. Keeping in view the approaching crushing season, the FBR decided to implement the TTS in sugar sector in order to digitally monitor the production of entire industry. The site surveys / factory visits were completed by the FBR’s licensee in the month of September, 2021 and Tri-Partite Agreements (TPAs) were signed with all the 79 operational sugar mills of Punjab, Sindh and KPK in October, 2021, resulting in 100pc coverage of sugar sector.
Adviser to PM on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, has commended the FBR for successful implementation of this innovative digital intervention, resulting in sizable increase in tax revenue. Likewise, Chairman FBR/Secretary Revenue Division, Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed has appreciated the outstanding performance of IREN squads in ensuring the desired compliance by the sugar sector, which has started paying dividends. He further added that the TTS was one of the key interventions introduced by the FBR to push its ongoing drive for digitization to achieve transparency and thereby maximizing tax compliance.