KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has obtained data of consumers from the power utility companies, and based on this information electricity consumers are being sent notices urging them to file tax returns.

FBR has sent notices addressed to ‘K-Electric Consumer’ noting that as per data available with FBR the recipient of the notice is industrial/commercial consumer of electricity, meaning thereby electricity is being used for business purposes.

“It is brought to your knowledge that every person engaged in making taxable supplies in Pakistan is liable to be registered as warranted under section 14 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990,” one such notice said.

After reconciling the power utility companies’ data with its own, FBR has warned the electricity consumers who have not obtained Sales Tax Registration.

FBR in its strive to broaden the tax base, intends to register all those persons who are liable to be registered under Sales Tax Act, 1990 or Federal Excise Act, 2005 or the persons earning taxable income and liable to file return under Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 but failed to do so.

FBR has notified that all those persons who are liable to be registered and pay sales tax/federal excise duty, or liable to file income tax return, if fail to do so, may compulsorily be registered and made to file return and duties/taxes would be recovered along with default surcharge and penalty, which may also entail prosecution proceedings leading to imprisonment.