On Friday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and AJCL Private Limited, along with its partners Authentix Inc and Mitas Corporation, inked a contract to put the track and trace system in place for the tobacco, cement, sugar, and fertiliser industries.
From July 1, 2021, the IT-based solution will be implemented across these sectors in an effort to increase tax revenue, reduce counterfeiting, and prevent the smuggling of illicit goods by implementing a robust, nationwide electronic monitoring system for production volumes and affixing more than five billion tax stamps on various products at the manufacturing stage.
The FBR will be able to follow goods along the supply chain as a result of this.
FBR Member (IR Operations) Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed stated at the event that the FBR will work closely with the AJCL consortium during the program’s expansion across several industries on very ambitious schedules.
According to Authentix President and CEO Kevin McKenna, the programme is expected to assist deliver a transformational boost to the local economy, increase income, and make the tax collection process more transparent for the benefit of the industry, just as it has in other countries.
The consortium is looking forward to working with the FBR to configure and implement various components of the solution, including the tax stamp application and production monitoring equipment, and is ramping up production of specialised tax stamps that will act as unique identification marks on the products, according to AJCL CEO Omer Jaffer.
Installation of the track and trace system in the specified sectors is expected to be a game changer, bringing more than 45 million tonnes of cement, more than four billion cigarettes, more than four million tonnes of sugar, and more than 30 million tonnes of fertiliser into the tax net, as well as improving economic digitisation.
Source: tribune
