Speaking at a press conference alongside the finance minister in Islamabad, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani said the app had been formally launched and was developed in consultation with traders.
He said the scheme was also open to shopkeepers who were not yet part of the tax net. Through the app, retailers would be able to become filers and submit their tax returns using their mobile phones.
Under the scheme, small retailers would also be exempted from the Point of Sale system. Registered shopkeepers would be required to pay a minimum of Rs25,000, while traders would receive a green plate to display at their shops.
Kayani said that once the green plate was displayed, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials would not be allowed to enter the registered shop for inspection.
He added that sales made by retailers registered through the app would be subject to a 1% tax.
The minister said the app would also be made available in local languages by the first week of September, with the government expecting the scheme to bring millions of traders into the tax net.
According to Kayani, expanding the tax base could eventually help reduce the tax burden on salaried individuals.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the government was also working to simplify tax filing for salaried employees. He said the income tax return form for the salaried class would be made easier to complete.
The government has presented the retailer scheme as an effort to simplify tax compliance for small businesses while expanding the number of taxpayers in the country.
