ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the Track and Trace System (TTS) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Nov 23 under which movement of sugar bags will be monitored in order to check tax evasion in the sugar industry.

       Last month, FBR extended the TTS to the cigarette sector to check tax evasion there. So, sugar industry will emerge as the second sector to be brought under electronic monitoring. The FBR is planning to bring the beverage and petroleum sectors under TTS.

       An official announcement said the FBR has already issued Sales Tax General Order No. 5 which ordains that no sugar bag will be allowed to move out of a production site, factory premises or manufacturing plant without affixation of activated stamps/Unique Identification Marking (UIMs) with effect from November 11, 2021.

       The UIMs are to be obtained/procured from FBR’s Licensee AJCL/MITAS/Authentix Conso-rtium. The Sales Tax Act-1990 read with Rule 150 ZF of the Sales Tax Rules-2006 mandate FBR to notify the date for the implementation of Electronic Monitoring of Production and Sales of Goods in the manner prescribed in the law on all manufacturing sites of notified sectors.

       After rolling out electronic monitoring of tobacco sector, FBR is now implementing TTS in the next significant sugar sector which will be followed by the remaining sectors.

       TTS will ensure electronic monitoring of manufacturing and sales of products of important sectors consisting of tobacco, fertilisers, sugar and cement.

       Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2021