The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and 1-Link signed an agreement on Monday through which taxpayers now can pay FBR taxes and customs duty using internet banking or ATMs.
In a signing ceremony, SBP, FRB and 1-link inked an agreement to develop a mechanism and interface through which taxpayers would be able to pay their taxes round the clock, seven days a week.
As per the proposed mechanism, the banks will add FBR (Inland Revenue) and FBR (Customs) as billers in the billers module and banks will also develop the necessary interface with 1-Link and after the system is made operational, the taxpayers and importers will fill their tax and customs duty payment details in the FBR (IRS) and Customs (WeBOC) online modules to generate payment slip ID (PSID).
The PSID will then be used to access the tax or duty payment details on banks’ web page or ATM as the case may be. The taxpayer or their agent will then pay the tax by debiting the bank account for onward credit to the respective government account in SBP BSC.
The whole process will be online and fully automated.
The SBP has also advised banks to add FBR and Customs as billers in the Bill Payment System offered by 1-link and develop necessary integration with 1-link within two months.
The system will be made operational by December 31 after necessary testing. Banks have been advised to demonstrate full ownership and commitment for successful and timely implementation of this project, which will bring huge efficiency gains besides facilitating the public in hassle-free payment of government taxes and duties.
Dar on the occasion congratulated SBP and FBR and expressed hope that all the formalities would be completed at the earliest and that the system would be operational by 31st December, 2017.
The governor of SBP added that the initiative is part of SBP Vision 2020, which envisages the development of the robust payment system and it’s primarily aimed at facilitating the taxpayers and public at large in payment of taxes. (PhotoNews / Geo News)
