Hundred amendments to RGST agreed

[Hyde]

Hundred amendments to RGST agreed​

By Khaleeq Kiani

The federal government has assured provincial secretaries that the government has made arrangements for enough votes in the National Assembly.—File photo


ISLAMABAD: Federal and provincial finance secretaries agreed on Wednesday to make about 100 amendments to the proposed Reformed General Sales Tax, but major issue relating to inter-provincial tax collection and the rate of tax remained unresolved.

Informed sources said that finance secretaries would meet again on Dec 17 to complete the synchronisation of provincial RGST laws with the federal law and achieve uniformity in federal and provincial laws before the new legislation was tabled in the National Assembly in its forthcoming session.

Meanwhile, the Federal Board of Revenue has been directed to address the practical aspects about its powers in the administration of federal and provincial tax laws and tax collection.

On Wednesday, provincial governments wanted to know whether the federal government could get the RGST law passed in the National Assembly.

The federal government assured provincial secretaries that the government had made arrangements for enough votes in the National Assembly.

Informed sources said that the federal and provincial secretaries had not been able to resolve their differences over tax collection and sharing on inter-provincial services.

And the Balochistan government is reported to have lined up with the Sindh government on the issue of GST on shipping services.

Also, the Sindh government has gone back on its understanding to let the federal government collect RGST on seven services relating to the shipping industry, the sources said.

They said that Sindh and Balochistan believed that port services belonged entirely to them and they should not give up their right to collect tax on the seven services yielding an annual revenue of about Rs800 million.

The sources said that the secretaries also agreed on a uniform tax rate on several sectors across the country, but decided not to make it public until the law was introduced in parliament after incorporating the suggestions of the NA’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue.