Pakistan is surging into the era of the online world as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that a mechanism is being developed to enable payment of FBR taxes and customs duty through internet banking or ATM. SBP has signed an agreement with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and 1-Link to develop a mechanism enabling that process. The signing ceremony was chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar. The Advisor to the Prime Minister of Revenue, Humayun Akhtar Khan was also present at the ceremony, according to the statement. It pointed out that the facility would be available 24/7.
As per the proposed mechanism the banks will :
1) Add FBR (Inland Revenue) and FBR (Customs) as Billers in the Billers Module and develop a necessary interface with 1-Link.
2) After the system is made operational, the tax pay a rs/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).
3) The PSID will then be used to access the tax/duty payment details on banks’ webpage or ATM as the case may be.
4) The tax payer or their agent will then pay the tax by debiting his/her 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 by December 5th 2017. The system will be made operational by December 31st 2017 after necessary testing. The banks have been advised to demonstrate full ownership and commitment for successful implementation of this strategic project, which will bring huge efficiency gains besides facilitating the public in hassle free payment of government taxes and duties.