Staff Correspondent:

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to install Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) or Sales Data Controller (SDC) machines on a mandatory basis at VAT-eligible hotels and restaurants located on all highways across the country.

The conscious consumers are continuously complaining that VAT is not being deposited properly with the state coffer as hotels and restaurants located on all highways across the country do not issue electronic VAT invoices.

Restaurants on highways operate round the clock while many of those collect VAT, but do not deposit it properly.

In order to collect VAT properly, the Chairman of the NBR has recently issued instructions to install EFD/SDC machines at all hotels and restaurants located on the highways across the country, said an NBR press release.

In that context, a letter issued by the VAT implementation wing of the NBR has given urgent instructions to all the field-level commissioners to install EFD/SDC machines at all hotels and restaurants located on the country’s highways, regularly monitoring daily transactions and thus collecting the appropriate amount of VAT.

It is mentionable that Genex IT has been working with the NBR for the last few years to install EFD machines and thus incorporating all transaction information into the IVAS system through its overall operations.

The release said that the current interim government has been taking various positive steps to keep the wheels of the country’s economy moving. To this end, the NBR has issued strict instructions at the field level to identify new taxpayers, changed the VAT rate for revenue collection, as well as to prevent tax evasion.

The NBR has also instructed the field officers to maintain a service-oriented attitude towards taxpayers in collecting legal revenues.

The revenue board is also requesting specifically the esteemed consumers to accept electronic invoices or receipts while shopping at all restaurants on the highways.

If the VAT invoice is not accepted, the VAT paid by the consumers will not be deposited with the government exchequer.

Every month, the NBR will award hundreds of prizes to the winning VAT payers through lottery from the EFD machine-generated VAT receipts.

Besides, the NBR has also requested all the stakeholders, including businessmen, electronic and print media, to supplement the government efforts for the sake of collecting revenues properly. The revenue board is also requesting the consumers to receive the VAT receipts properly and thus win exciting prizes.