Year: 2019

SRB suspends tax registration of Cyber Internet Services

KARACHI: Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has suspended sales tax registration of M/s. Cyber Internet Services (Private) Limited for making short payment on telecom services.

The SRB on Tuesday said that the services provided or rendered in respect of telecommunication including internet and bandwidth services are chargeable to the sales tax under the provincial law.

M/s. Cyber Internet Services (Private) Limited is registered with the SRB since August 04, 2011.

The SRB said that as per invoices services provided to end consumers of internet services from registered person, it has been observed that the registered person is charging/collecting/depositing Sindh sales tax at lower rate of tax or inappropriate rate of tax i.e. 15.6 percent despite the fact that internet or bandwidth services are chargeable to the Sindh sales tax at 19.5 percent.

As per the description given on one of the invoice, the registered person has billed the consumer for 10 Mbps internet services package for the month of March 2019 but has charged sales tax of Rs312 on value of taxable services of Rs1.999 (sales tax at 15.6 percent) whereas the applicable rate of tax is 19.50 percent.

“This is serious violation of provisions of Sindh Sales Tax Act, 2011.”

Considering the violation, the SRB suspended the sales tax registration of the company with immediate effect.

However, the provincial revenue authority has given opportunity to the company to take remedial action by April 02, 2019 including submitting the summary of tax collected and charged lower than applicable tax rate in case of telecommunication services from July 2011 till February 2019.

In case of non-satisfactory response or failure to take remedial measures as suggested on or before April 02, 2019, the case would be further proceeded for cancellation of registration with SRB, the board warned.

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March 19, 2019
Amnesty granted to government employees concealing service in passports

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has approved an amnesty for government employees, who concealed their government service in their passports.

Directorate General, Immigration & Passport (Headquarters) vide its letter No. 15/01/2019-Policy (Vol-III), dated 11-03-2019 has informed that Federal Cabinet vide Cabinet Division’s letter No. 096/CM/2019-D dated February 22, 2019 has approved proposed amnesty for Government Officers/Officials who obtained passports in private capacity being government employee in concealment of government service, as under:-

i. The government officers/officials, who obtained passport in concealment of profession, are advised to approach Passport Offices concerned, alongwith NOC and recommendations of their respective departments to get their passport data rectified and fresh passport issued, modifying profession as Government Service, within three months of issuance of this letter.

ii. The Government Officers/Officials who obtained passport before joining the Government service are advised to correct their data by applying a fresh passport and producing NOC from their parent departments, within three months of issuance of this letter.

iii. In addition to the prescribed passport fee, additional processing charges of Rs5000/- will be levied on defaulting Officers/Officials who obtained passports in private capacity being government servants.

iv. On expiry of given date/period of three months, the passports of defaulting officers/officials will be cancelled/blocked and legal action under the relevant Section of Passport Act 1974 shall be initiated against them by the departments concerned through FIA under intimation to this Directorate General.

March 19, 2019
SBP launches financing facilities for disable persons

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday launches a concessionary Small Enterprise Financing and Credit Guarantee Facility for special persons.

Tariq Bajwa, SBP, governor announced this special facility in the 7th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs held at State Bank of Pakistan.

Members of the Standing Committee and senior executives of State Bank of Pakistan were also present on the occasion.

“Realizing the vulnerability of persons with disabilities in the country and cost associated with their exclusion for the economy, SBP in-line with its priority sector development has devised a scheme for special persons”, said Tariq Bajwa.

This financing facility is expected to improve access to finance for special persons falling under Small Enterprise (SE) category at a concessional rate of 5 percent per annum.

Under the scheme, banks and DFIs will provide financing facilities to special persons for establishing new business enterprises or for expansion of existing businesses.

The SBP will provide refinance to banks/ DFIs up to 100 percent of finance extended by them.

Special persons can avail financing up to Rs1.5 million for a maximum period of 5 years including grace period of 6 months.

SBP will also provide risk coverage of 60 percent to banks/DFIs on their outstanding loans under the scheme. This financing facility has been issued with the main objective of improving the socio-economic life of special persons in Pakistan.

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March 19, 2019
SCB Pakistan allowed Chinese Yuan clearing, settlement

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed Standard Chartered Bank, Pakistan to establish local Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) clearing and settlement setup in the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, the central banks said that Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Pakistan can now open CNY accounts of the banks operating in Pakistan to facilitate settlement of CNY based transactions such as remittance to/from China.

SCB can also provide CNY liquidity to the interbank market for the settlement of CNY based transactions.

It may be mentioned here that over the years, the SBP has been at the forefront in providing a conducive policy and regulatory environment to encourage the use of local currencies in trade and financing transactions between China and Pakistan.

Earlier, SBP had also permitted Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) Pakistan in 2015 and Bank of China Limited (BOC) Pakistan in 2018 to establish similar local CNY clearing and settlement mechanism in Pakistan.

The expansion of local CNY clearing and settlement setup in Pakistan is expected to further improve efficiency of the local banking system in transacting in CNY, enhance market liquidity and facilitate rising trade and investment with China through fostering competition and increasing CNY resource avenues.

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March 19, 2019
Equity market falls by 240 points in dull trading

KARACHI: The equity market fell by 240 points on Tuesday as dull trading activities prevailed during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 38,612 points as against 38,852 points showing a decline of 240 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that KSE-100 index opened positive 61 points and carried the optimism from yesterday’s buying activity that saw market jumped 545 points.

Contrary to that market returned to the dull pace and non-interest that has been witnessed past whole week.

Trading volume was seen highest in PAEL that saw 15.4 million shares against a total market volume of 70.7 million shares.

Investors did not show interest in buying at prevailing prices, which eventually took the market down in the final hour by a wide margin.

Close to 30 million trading volume was seen in the final hour of trading.

Selling was seen across the board and large cap scrips saw the most declines including HBL, UBL, LUCK, GHNI and Auto sector stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-63 points), Cement (-60 points), Power (-50 points), O&GMCs (-17 points), E&P (-12 points).

Volumes declined from 99 million shares to 70.8 million shares (-28 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 29 percent to reach US$ 22.7 million as against US$ 32.1 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PAEL, BOP, TRG, MLCF and SNGP, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include BAFL (+14 points), PMPK (+12 points), POL (+10 points), ENGRO (+9 points), and HMB (+8 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-39 points), LUCK (-26 points), HBL (-26 points), UBL (-23 points) and BAHL (-12 points).

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March 19, 2019
Rupee unchanged against dollar

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee was remained unchanged against dollar on Tuesday in a range bound trading activity.

The rupee ended at Rs139.39 to the dollar, the same previous day’s closing, in interbank foreign exchange market.

The interbank foreign exchange market was initiated in the range of Rs139.35 and Rs139.40.

The market recorded day high of Rs139.40 and low of Rs139.38 and closed at Rs139.39.

The exchange rate in open market was also remained unchanged.

The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs139.20/Rs139.70, the same previous day’s level, in cash ready market.

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March 19, 2019
NCCPL to collect capital gain tax on March 29

KARACHI: The National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) on Tuesday said that it will collect Capital Gain Tax (CGT) on disposal of shares for February 2019 on March 29, 2019.

The aggregate amount of CGT arising on disposal of shares at Pakistan Stock Exchange for the period February 01, 2019 to February 28, 2019, would be collected on Friday, March 29, 2019 through respective settling banks of the clearing members, along with refund or adjustments on the basis of amount collected up to previous month, the NCCPL said.

All clearing members have been directed to ensure requisite amount in their respective settling bank’s account.

Further, the aggregate amount of CGT arising on trading of future commodity contracts at Pakistan Mercantile Exchange for the period February 01, 2019 to February 28, 2019, would also be collected from the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange on Friday, March 29, 2019.

Necessary details and reports for the period have already been made available.

Moreover, the aggregate amount of CGT arising on redemption of units of open end mutual funds have also been finalized for the period February 01, 2019 to February 28, 2019. Necessary details and reports have already been made available in the CGT System.

Clearing Members, Pakistan Mercantile Exchange and Mutual Funds are hereby requested to verify the investor wise details of capital gain or loss and tax thereon, if any, through reports/downloads.

The NCCPL warned that in case of none or partial collection of CGT, necessary action would be taken in accordance with the Rules and NCCPL Regulations.

March 19, 2019
FBR extends last date for submitting customs proposals for budget 2019/2020

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the last date for submitting customs related budget proposals for 2019/2020.

In a notification to all chambers and association, the FBR said that the board issued a letter on January 25, 2019 for submitting customs proposals for budget 2019/2020.

The proposals would cover three areas i.e. changes in Customs Tariff rates, Rules/Procedures and Customs Act, 1969.

The FBR said that to enable the Customs Wing of the FBR to properly process and evaluate each proposal, three separate formats had been attached to the letter for preparing the proposals on MS Excel Sheets.

The FBR said that while formulating the proposals, provision of the existing customs tariff rates/law may carefully be studied/consulted.

Wherever required the proposal may be supported with the statistical data etc. so that it is not dropped on account of any such infirmity.

In case of local manufacturer claiming tariff protection on its finished products or concession o its raw materials, complete given annexure as well, without which it would not be possible to process these types of proposals.

It is requires that the proposals may be sent to the FBR by March 25, 2019.

The government is scheduled to announce the budget 2019/2020 in the first week of June 2019.

March 19, 2019

Advance tax on electronic media, cable operators

KARACHI: Electronic media and cable operators are required to pay adjustable advance tax at the time of obtaining new license or renewal of license.

According to updated Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) shall collect the advance tax at the time of issuance of licence for distribution services or renewal of the licence to a licencee under Section 236F of the Ordinance.

Section 236F: Advance tax on cable operators and other electronic media

Sub-Section (1): Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, at the time of issuance of licence for distribution services or renewal of the licence to a licencee, shall collect advance tax at the rates specified in Division XIII of Part IV of the First Schedule.

(1) The rate of tax to be collected under section 236F in the case of Cable Television Operator shall be as follows:—

License Category as provided in PEMRA Rules	Tax on License Fee	Tax on Renewal
H	Rs. 7,500	Rs. 10,000
H-I	Rs. 10,000	Rs. 15,000
H-II	Rs. 25,000	Rs. 30,000
R	Rs. 5,000	Rs. 12,000
B	Rs. 5,000	Rs. 40,000
B-1	Rs. 30,000	Rs. 35,000
B-2	Rs. 40,000	Rs. 45,000
B-3	Rs. 50,000	Rs. 75,000
B-4	Rs. 75,000	Rs. 100,000
B-5	Rs. 87,500	Rs. 150,000
B-6	Rs. 175,000	Rs. 200,000
B-7	Rs. 262,500	Rs. 300,000
B-8	Rs. 437,500	Rs. 500,000
B-9	Rs. 700,000	Rs. 800,000
B-10	Rs. 875,500	Rs. 900,000

(2) The rate of tax to be collected by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority under section 236F in the case of IPTV, FM Radio, MMDS, Mobile TV, Mobile Audio, Satellite TV Channel and Landing Rights, shall be 20 per cent of the permission fee or renewal fee, as the case may be.

“(3) In addition to tax collected under paragraph (2) Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority shall collect tax at the rate of fifty per cent of the permission fee or renewal fee, as the case may be, from every TV Channel on which foreign TV drama serial or a play in any language, other than English, is screened or viewed.”

Sub-Section (2): The tax collected under sub-section (1) shall be adjustable.

Sub-Section (3): For the purpose of this section, “cable television operator” “DTH”, “Distribution Service”, “electronic media”, “IPTV”, “loop holder”, “MMDS”, “mobile TV”, shall have the same meanings as defined in Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 (XIII of 2002) and rules made thereunder.

March 19, 2019

Asad Umar reviews revenue collection, broadening of tax base

KARACHI: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Monday reviewed the revenue collection progress and ongoing drive of broadening of tax base at a meeting with senior officials of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The meeting was attended by Member Inland Revenue Operations Ms. Seema Shakil, Member Customs Operations Agha Jawad, Chief Commissioners Inland Revenue and Chief Collectors of Pakistan Customs.
Ms. Seema Shakil updated the finance minister about revenue collection and performance of Inland Revenue besides giving details of ongoing campaign for broadening of tax base.
She apprised the finance minister about the difficulties in the way of taking harsh action against tax evaders.
The sources said that the finance minister issued directives for taking harsh measures against tax evaders including high profile cases.
He also assured all logistic support to FBR officials in taking actions against influential persons.

Member Customs Operations Agha Jawad also briefed the finance minister about the working of customs clearance. The member said that transparency had been ensured in the clearance process in order to facilitate genuine taxpayers.
The member pointed out high volume of smuggled betel nut.
The finance minister directed to evolve a tariff mechanism for betel nut.
The finance minister directed both the wings of FBR to ensure facilitation of taxpayers and focus on tax evaders.

March 19, 2019