Year: 2019

Rupee ends unchanged in interbank foreign exchange market

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended unchanged at all time low against the dollar on Tuesday amid demand for import and corporate payments.

The rupee ended Rs156.99 to the dollar, the same previous day’s level, in interbank foreign exchange market.

The foreign exchange market opened in the range of Rs156.75 and Rs157.00. The market recorded day high of Rs157.00 and low of Rs156.50 in interbank foreign exchange market.

The exchange rate in open market was also remained unchanged. The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs156.00/Rs156.70, the same previous day’s level, in cash ready market.

June 25, 2019
FBR amends baggage rules, passengers required to make customs declaration

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has amended baggage rules and made it mandatory for passengers to declare their goods on arrival.

The FBR on Tuesday issued draft amendments to Baggage Rules for passengers in order to clear their goods under concessionary or exempt regime.

Under the draft rules made available to PkRevenue.com, a passenger is required to file a customs declaration at the time of arrival or departure.

The declaration form shall include:

Name of collectorate

Passenger’s name

Gender

Date of birth

Passport number

Nationality

Country coming from/going to

Country going to (if in transit)

Name of countries visited during the last 7 days

Purpose of visit such as personal, official, business or tourism

Contact person/sponsor, contact number in Pakistan, address in Pakistan

The passenger is required to make following declaration:

Are you carrying any of the following goods?

Prohibited/restricted goods such as narcotics, psychotropic substance, firearms, weapons, satellite phones etc?

Gold Jewelry, precious /semi previous stones

Foreign currency in US $ or equivalent.

Passengers have been advised to inform customs officer at the red channel if any of the above answer in Yes.

June 25, 2019
Automated sales tax registration to start from July 01: FBR

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday said that the automated system for sales tax registration will start from July 01, 2019.

The following procedure has been proposed and the same shall replace the one as prescribed in sub-rules (2) to (8) of rule 5 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990:

The applicant having NTN/income tax registration shall, using his login credentials, upload following information / documents:

Bank account certificate issued by the bank in the name of the business.

Registration / consumer number with the gas and electricity supplier.

Particulars of all branches in case of multiple branches at various locations.

GPS-tagged photographs of the business premises In case of manufacturer, also the GPS-tagged photographs of machinery and industrial electricity or gas meter installed.

On furnishing above documents, the system shall register the applicant for sales tax, the FBR said.

After registration, the applicant or his authorized person shall visit e-Sahulat Centre of NADRA within a month for bio-metric verification.

In case of failure to visit or failure of verification, the registered person’s name shall be taken off the sales tax Active Taxpayer List.

In case of manufacturer, the FBR may require post verification through field offices or a third party authorized by the Board.

In case, the field office, during scrutiny after the registration, finds that any document provided is non-genuine / fake / wrong, it may request through the system, to provide the missing document, in fifteen days, failing which the registered person shall be taken off from the sales Active Taxpayer List.

June 25, 2019
Customs stations to remain open on June 29, 30 for duty, tax collection

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has instructed all the customs stations in the country to remain open and observe extended working house till 10:00 pm on Saturday (June 29, 2019) and till 12:00 mid-night Sunday (June 30, 2019).

The FBR issued these instructions for facilitation of trade in payment of duty/taxes.

The FBR has further instructed the Chief Collector of Customs to liaise with the State Bank of Pakistan and other scheduled commercial banks in their respective jurisdiction to ensure transfer of the duties/taxes collected by these branches to the respective branches of State Bank of Pakistan on the same date and to account the same towards collection for the month of June, 2019, a notification said on Monday.

June 25, 2019
SBP stops banks selling Rs40,000 prize bonds, issues procedure for conversion into registered bonds

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has stopped banks from issuing prize bond denomination of Rs40,000 with immediate effect and also issued instructions regarding conversion into registered bonds and encashment.

The SBP on Monday issued the following instructions regarding handling of Rs.40,000/- denomination National Prize Bonds are issued herewith for information, guidance and meticulous compliance:

a) National Prize Bonds of Rs.40,000/- denomination shall not be sold after June 24, 2019 and will not be encashed/redeemed after March 31, 2020.

b) No further draws of Rs.40,000/-denomination National Prize Bonds shall be held.

c) Cash payment for encashments of bonds is not allowed. However, the bond holder (s) shall have the following options to replace / encash these bonds:

1. Conversion of premium prize bonds (registered)

2. Replacement with special saving certificate (SSC)/Defence Saving Certificate (DSC)

3. Encashment at face value.

d) Appended below is the SOP for processing requests under the aforementioned options for compliance by all banks:

1. Conversion to Premium Prize Bonds (Registered)

i. The bonds can be converted to premium prize bonds (registered) through the 16 field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation, and authorized branches of six commercial banks i.e. National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), United Bank Limited (UBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), Allied Bank Limited (ABL) and Bank Alflah Limited (BAFL).

ii. The bond holder shall be required to submit a written request for conversion of bearer bonds to premium prize bonds (registered) to be registered in his (her) name on the prescribed application.

iii. The bond holder shall also be required to submit prescribed applications forms for registrations / purchase of premium prize bond as per the procedure in vogue.

Replacement with the Special Saving Certificate (SSC)/Defence Saving Certificate (DSC)

i. The bonds can be replaced with SSC / DSC through the 16 field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation, authorized commercial banks and National Savings Centers.

ii. All authorized commercial banks shall, therefore, accept requests for replacement of bearer bonds with SSC or DSC on the prescribed application form.

iii. The bondholder shall also be required to submit application form for purchase of SSC/DSC (SC-1) as per the prescribed procedure.

Encashment at Face Value:

i. The bonds will only be encashed by transferring the proceeds to the bond holder’s bank account through the 16 field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation as well as the authorized commercial bank branches.

ii. All commercial banks shall receive requests for encashment of bearer bonds on the prescribed application form.

A cop of the application form, duly signed and stamped, shall be provided to the bondholder as an acknowledgement receipt.

The SBP said that it is needless to mention that the National Prize Bonds of Rs40,000 denomination tendered at the counters of banks shall be subject to through scrutiny to ascertain their genuineness. In this regard, details regarding the security features in Rs40,000 denomination National Prize Bonds are available online.

Moreover, the prize bonds encashed / replaced by general public may be surrendered to concerned SBP BSC office through respective regional office of the commercial banks. For the purpose, the regional office may intimate the SBP BSC office three days in advance so that necessary arrangements for receipt of the bonds can be made.

It is imperative to mention that a notice regarding the above / mentioned facilities must be displayed at prominent places within branch premises for awareness and information of general public.

June 24, 2019
Share market falls by 653 points on heavy selling

KARACHI: The share market sharply fell by 653 points or 1.9 percent on Monday owing to heavy selling during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,472 points as against 35,125 points showing a decrease of 653 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note with +24 points, but hit a ceiling of +69 points followed by heavy selling throughout the session.

Cement sector caused the concern among investors due to requirement introduced in the budget for presenting CNIC to buy cement as well as the protest from cement dealers highlighting the risks of low sales by cement manufacturers.

Non-activation of State Enterprise Fund, also added to the misery of investors. Across the board selling was observed and positive news flow on Qatar’s potential investment in Pakistan to the tune of US$ 3 billion also failed to stem the flow of selling.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-127 points), Cement (-106 points), Fertilizer (-102 points), Banks (-91 points), OGMCs (-56 points).

Volumes declined from 129.3 million shares to 78.7 million shares (-39 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 31 percent DoD to reach US$ 18.4 million as against US$ 26.9 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, TRG, FCCL, MLCF and UNITY, which formed 29 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed negatively include LUCK (-56 points), PPL (-40 points), POL (-34 points), OGDC (-34 points) and ENGRO (-33 points). Stocks that contributed positively include PMPK (+11 points), BAHL (+7 points), NESTLE (+7 points), PKGS (+3 points) and NATF (+3 points).

June 24, 2019
Rupee hits all time low against dollar

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended down to hit all time low against dollar at closing on Monday owing to pressure from payment for import and corporate.

The rupee ended down by 16 paisas to close at Rs156.99 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs156.83 in interbank foreign exchange market.

The foreign exchange market initiated at Rs156.98 and Rs157.00. The market recorded day high of Rs157.00 and low of Rs156.75 and closed at Rs156.99.

The exchange rate in open market also witnessed depreciation in local currency value.

The buying and selling of dollar recorded at Rs156.00/Rs156.70 from last Saturday’s closing of Rs155.70/Rs156.70 in cash ready market.

June 24, 2019
Finance Bill 2019: tax officials granted powers to enter premises for gold, prize bonds; KCCI opposes

KARACHI: The Finance Bill 2019 has proposed discretionary powers to Commissioner Inland Revenue to enter and search any premises for undeclared gold and prize bonds.

Under Section 175 of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 such powers have already with the commissioners but the proposal intended to expand the power to include gold and bearer security.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has opposed strongly to this recommendations saying that this is against the dignity granted to an individual as per the Article 14 of the Constitution and would tantamount to violation of sanctity of residential premises, if raided.

A research report of the KCCI said that raiding of homes and subsequent breach of privacy is against national cultural norms and is an idea uncalled for, having grave social repercussions.

“This proposal is also against the spirit of withdrawal of discretionary powers of the taxman.”

The Asset Declaration Scheme 2019 also does not allow declaration of gold, precious stones, bearer security and bearer prize bonds, thereby restricting a holder of such assets from declaring them before probable confiscation. Any such measure before allowance of declaration makes this a very harsh measure.

Such sweeping discretionary powers granted to the Commissioner would result in harassment to ordinary citizens including housewives and the elderly, as now raids could be made on homes as well, and by no means should be allowed to be confiscated.

Hence, this proposal should be removed from the budget. Further, the Asset Declaration Scheme 2019 should be amended to include declaration of gold and bearer securities.

June 24, 2019

Tax slabs increased for rental income from properties

KARACHI: The government has revised tax slabs for rental income from property to eight from five.
Experts at Deloitte Pakistan Chartered Accountants said that the Finance Bill 2019, proposed the increase in the number of tax slabs from five to eight.
Three new tax slabs are proposed for income exceeding Rs4,000,000 to match the maximum rate with that of the individual tax rates.
Rates of tax on income from property, based on the finance bill, shall be as follows:

S. No.	Gross Amount of Rent	Rate of Tax
1.	Where the gross amount of rent does not exceed Rs.200,000.	Nil
2.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs.200,000 but does not exceed Rs. 600,000.	5 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 200,000.
3.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs.600,000 but does not exceed Rs. 1,000,000.	Rs. 20,000 plus 10 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 600,000.
4.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs.1,000,000 but does not exceed Rs. 2,000,000.	Rs. 60,000 plus 15 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 1,000,000.
5.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs.2,000,000 but does not exceed Rs. 4,000,000.	Rs. 210,000 plus 20 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 2,000,000.
6.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs.4,000,000 but does not exceed Rs. 6,000,000.	Rs. 610,000 plus 25 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 4,000,000.
7.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs.6,000,000 but does not exceed Rs. 8,000,000.	Rs. 1,110,000 plus 30 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 6,000,000.
8.	Where the gross amount of rent exceeds Rs. 8,000,000.	Rs. 1,710,000 plus 35 per cent of the amount exceeding Rs. 8,000,000.

June 24, 2019

FBR proposes massive increase in valuations of Lahore immovable properties

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has proposed massive increase in valuations of immovable properties in Lahore to be effective from July 01, 2019.

The FBR about two days back issued valuation tables of immovable properties in 18 cities of Pakistan. The FBR invited comments and suggestions on the proposal from the stakeholders before implementing those by July 01, 2019.

A cursory look on the proposed valuation of immovable properties in Lahore suggested that the FBR was planning to generate a sizeable revenue from sales and purchase of immovable properties during next fiscal year.

The increase in valuation is not uniform as it was done by the FBR by increase valuation by 20 percent through SROs issued in February 2019.

The FBR now proposed locality based increase in valuation and the increase may be over 100 percent increase on the existing valuations.

The comparative valuations of immovable properties in Lahore are given below so readers can measure the quantum of increase:

In the proposed valuation the FBR given separate valuation of commercial and residential immovable properties. Besides, a new concept of valuation of immovable properties has been introduced for properties up to five years and properties above five years old.

June 23, 2019