The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has made online VAT return filing mandatory for 11 sectors, including cigarettes, medicines, mobile phones and banking services.
The NBR’s VAT department issued an order to this effect on Sunday (September 20).
The sectors covered by the order are cigarettes, mobile phones, MS products, medicines, beverages, cement, tiles, paints and varnishes, insurance, banking and non-banking financial services, and mobile banking services.
According to the order, the requirement has been introduced under the authority granted by Section 64(5) of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012, and Rule 118(A) of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Rules, 2016.
Under the order, manufacturers in the specified product sectors and suppliers in the specified service sectors must submit their VAT returns online through the NBR’s e-VAT portal.
The order also states that if a registered person supplies any of the listed products or services along with other products or services, the online filing requirement will also apply to that person.
The NBR further said that any previous orders making online VAT return submission mandatory will be considered cancelled after the issuance of the new order.
The revenue authority has also reserved the right to add or remove sectors from the list at any time.
The order takes effect immediately.
