The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Sales Tax amounting to Rs. 26.5 billion in the first four months (Dec 2021 to Mar 2022) of the current crushing season from the sugar sector, registering an increase of 33 percent. The milestone has been achieved through the successful implementation of the Track and Trace System (TTS) in the sugar sector during the current crushing season. The innovative digital monitoring system of sugar production has been implemented in over 79 sugar mills, having 151 production lines nationwide It is pertinent to mention that the Prime Minister had himself launched TTS on November 23, 2021, for the sugar sector. Thereafter, no sugar bags were allowed to be removed from the factory premises and sold in the market without tax stamps.
Owing to this transparent electronic monitoring of production, all sugar mills had to declare their actual crushing and production during the current crushing season. Therefore, as a result of this digital intervention, the sugar mills have produced record high sugar i.e. 7.51 million tons (up to March 24, 2022) as against 5.63 million produced during the last crushing season, showing an increase of 34 percent. FBR has collected Sales Tax amounting to Rs. 26.5 billion in the first four months (Dec 2021 to Mar 2022) of the current crushing season as against Rs. 19.9 billion collected during the corresponding period in the last crushing season, registering an increase of Rs. 6.59 billion which comes to a growth of 33 percent.
In addition to above, Inland Revenue Enforcement Network (IREN) Squads of FBR, in counter-evasion operations, conducted more than 60 raids in various markets throughout the country to ensure successful implementation of the Track and Trace System. During the operations, the unstamped bags were seized by FBR officials as per law. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has commended FBR for the successful implementation of the Track and Trace System which has made Pakistan a sugar surplus country, once more.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed has also appreciated the performance of the Track and Trace System. He reiterated that over the next few months, implementation of the Track & Trace System for the entire tobacco sector as well as on other important sectors like fertilizers, petroleum, and cement will be ensured. It will result in digital monitoring of the large-scale manufacturing and production of these key sectors. Besides, preventing revenue leakages, it will help in minimizing human intervention and thus pave the way for a transparent and reliable tax compliance system across the country, he concluded.
