FBR reconstitutes Single Portal Committee to unify sales tax return filing across provinces

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reconstituted the Single Portal Committee responsible for developing and implementing a unified system for filing sales tax returns across the federation and all four provincial revenue authorities.

A notification issued on Thursday stated that the committee has been restructured following decisions made during the recent Tax Round Table Meeting between the FBR and provincial authorities.

According to the notification, Aamer Amin Bhatti (IRS-BS20) and Zainul Abidin Sahi (IRS-BS20) will represent the FBR. The Punjab Revenue Authority will be represented by Salman Zafar, Director IT, while the Sindh Revenue Board has nominated Abdul Hameed Memon, Senior Member Operations-I and former Inland Revenue official at FBR Headquarters.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority’s representative is Abdur Raziq, Additional Collector, and the Balochistan Revenue Authority will be represented by Member Ops-II Etheshamul Haq and Commissioner Ops-II Fahad Shabir.

Under the committee’s terms of reference, members will review readiness, actions and operational arrangements required for the roll out of the Single Portal for the filing of Sales Tax Return across all sectors and jurisdictions.

The committee has been empowered to consult experts from FBR, provincial authorities, PRAL, or any other relevant institution. It will also determine how to address issues arising when a single return is filed across more than one jurisdiction, including proposed changes to return forms, checks and calculations, enforcement, extensions and revisions.

The body will also make recommendations for software development, timelines, and the format of common and jurisdiction-specific annexures for the unified return portal.

The committee will advise on legal or regulatory amendments needed to introduce the new return format and ensure synchronised filing dates across authorities. It will additionally provide recommendations on data privacy, system ownership, and operational control of the portal.

The Pakistan Raises Revenue Programme Office at FBR headquarters will support the committee through coordination, communication, and scheduling of meetings.