The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed to implement the condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to launch a Track and Trace System (TTS) in five sectors from July 1, reported 24NewsHD TV channel quoting its sources.

The sources claimed that the apex tax collection body assured the IMF to implement the TTS from July 1.

It was assured to the IMF that FBR would launch TTS in five sectors to monitor the production of the sugar sector and from fertilizers, tobacco, and cement and beverages sectors. Sources said that companies have approached the court against the TTS tenders and alleged that TTS is biased and not fair.

As per the FBR website, “The Track and Trace Solution is to be rolled out across the Tobacco, Cement, Sugar and Fertilizer Sectors from 1st July 2021 in Pakistan with a view to enhancing tax revenue, reducing counterfeiting and preventing the smuggling of illicit goods through the implementation of a robust, nationwide, electronic monitoring system of production volumes and by the affixation of more than 5 billion tax stamps on various products at the production stage, which will enable FBR to track the goods throughout the supply chain.

It is pertinent to note that in February this year, the FBR had received financial bidding to place a track and trace system (TTS) for major tax evading sectors including tobacco, sugar, cement, fertilizer and beverages.

Reports said that the much-awaited track and trace system could not be awarded in the last more than one decade despite making several efforts. Now under the IMF programme, it is a binding condition to place a track and trace system to avoid evading taxes.

Reporter Waqas Azeem