ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) — The government is preparing enforcement measures against shopkeepers who have not registered under the Tajir Dost Scheme, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiani told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday.
Briefing the committee, Kiani said registration under the scheme had fallen short of expectations despite the government accepting traders’ demands. He said the government would now initiate strict legal action and impose penalties on shopkeepers who had not fulfilled their tax registration requirements.
He added that the enforcement mechanism would be presented to the committee within a few days.
Committee Chairman Syed Naveed Qamar questioned the scheme’s performance, saying the government had expected around 80 per cent of shopkeepers to register.
“If even 20 per cent of shopkeepers have not registered, you are back to square one,” Qamar observed, asking the finance ministry to explain how it planned to enforce the registration requirement.
Separately, the committee deferred consideration of the Companies Amendment Bill after expressing concerns over alleged misuse of the Export Facilitation Scheme.
Qamar said the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was not present to brief the committee on the matter. He said the bill would therefore be postponed until the relevant briefing could be provided.