The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is introducing steps to regulate movement of foreign currencies including mandatory declaration of foreign currencies with any limit at customs stations, airports, and sea ports, etc.

Sources told Business Recorder that the documentation of the financial transactions of the foreign exchange dealers/ exchange companies is amongst the priorities of the FBR.

One of the proposals under consideration is to ensure declaration of dollars by all incoming and outgoing passengers. The government has allowed taking up to $10,000 to resident and non-resident Pakistanis per visit.

The declaration is required for passengers taking above $10,000.

However, the proposal is to make it mandatory for all outgoing and incoming passengers to give declaration of the foreign currencies without any limit.

If a passenger is taking few hundred dollars or more, the proposal is to make it mandatory for that passenger to make declaration, irrespective of the amount.

According to sources, the declaration would be made through the online system, so that the FBR would timely know about the nationwide declarations made across the country.

The purpose is to track and document the foreign currency transactions.

Moreover, the FBR want to see the actual value of the declared foreign currencies through land customs stations, railways, air travel, and seaports.

The FBR has also decided to document transactions of the foreign exchange dealers/ exchange companies, and directed them to online integrate with the FBR’s computerised system.

According to the FBR, the board has included foreign exchange dealers/ exchange companies in the list of the businesses that are required to online integrate their businesses.

Under the FBR’s rules, the Board shall ensure to provide a facility on its website to a customer of an integrated enterprise person to verify and ensure that the invoice or bill issued to him has been duly communicated to the Board’s computerized system and in case of non-verification, he may upload the image of invoice or bill to the Board’s portal.

The foreign exchange dealers/ exchange companies shall install such fiscal electronic device and software, as approved by the board, available on its website with complete technical instructions for installation, configuration and integration.

The person shall notify to the Board, through the computerized system, of all the establishments, hereinafter referred to as notified establishments, from which they intend to carry on business and shall register each point of sale (POS) to activate the integration duly providing the following information, namely: POS Registration Number (to be provided by the System); name of business; branch name; branch address; POS identification number, and registration date.

No sale or service from the notified establishment shall be rendered without being recorded by the duly-accredited electronic fiscal device (EFD), which means a system composed of one Sale Data Controller (SDC) and at least one Point of Sale (POS) connected together, that has the above-mentioned characteristics and requirements, the FBR added.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on January 31, 2022.