Month: January 2020

Petroleum prices kept unchanged

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to keep the prices of petroleum products unchanged for the month of February 2020.

A statement said on Friday that the government decided to keep POL prices at the level of prices applied for January 2020.

For the month of January 2020 the prices were increased as:

The price of kerosene (SKO) has been increased by Rs3.10 per liter to Rs99.45 to from Rs96.35.

The price of petrol has been increased by Rs2.61 per liter to Rs116.60 from Rs113.99.

The rate of High Speed Diesel (HSD) has been increased by Rs2.25 per liter to Rs127.26 from Rs125.01.

The price of Light Diesel Oil (LDO) has been increased by Rs2.08 to Rs84.51 from Rs82.43.

January 31, 2020
FBR reshuffles senior customs officers in BS-20-22

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday reshuffled senior officers of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) and notified transfers and postings with immediate effect and until further orders.

Notification of following officers has been issued:

01. Javed Ghani (PCS/BS-22), who is currently Member (Customs Policy), FBR (HQ), Islamabad, has been assigned additional charge of Member Customs (Operations), FBR (HQ), Islamabad.

02. Jawwad Uwais Agha (PCS/BS-21) has been transferred and posted as Member FBR (HQ) Islamabad from the post of Member (Customs Operations),FBR (HQ) Islamabad.

03. Muhammad Saleem (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Collector, MCC (Appraisement), Peshawar from the post of Collector, MCC (Preventive), Multan.

04. Khaleel Ibrahim Yuousfani (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Collector MCC (Preventive), Peshawar from the post of Collector, Collectorate of Customs (Appeals), Karachi.

05. Muhammad Yaqoob Mako (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Collector, MCC (Preventive) Quetta from the post of Collector, MCC, Gawadar. He will also look after the charge of the Collector MCC, Gawadar.

06.Irfan-ur-Rehman (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Collector, MCC (Appraisement), Quetta from the post of Director, Directorate of Transit, Trade, Quetta. He will also look after the charge of Directorate of Transit Trade, Quetta

07. Fayyaz Anwar (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Collector MCC (Preventive), Multan from the post of Director, Directorate of I&I Gawadar.

08. Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh (PCS/BS-20), who is current posted as Collector, MCC (Export) Karachi. He will also look after the charge of MCC (Export) PMBQ, Karachi.

09. Irfan Javed (PCS/BS-20), who is currently posted as Director, Directorate of I&I Karachi. He will also look after the charge of the post of Director, Directorate of I&I Gawadar.

10. Asif Saeed Khan Lughmani (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Chief, FBR (HQ), Islamabad from the post of Collector MCC (Preventive) Peshawar.

11. Ihsan Ali Shah (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Chief, FBR (HQ), Islamabad from the post of Collector, MCC (Appraisement), Peshawar.

12. Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Chief, FBR (HQ), Islamabad from the post of Collector, MCC (Preventive), Quetta.

13. Raza (PCS/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Chief, FBR (HQ), Islamabad from the post of Collector, MCC (Appraisement), Quetta.

The FBR said that the officers who are drawing performance allowance prior to issuance of this notification shall continue to draw this allowance on the new place of posting.

January 31, 2020
Stock market ends down by 273 points on selling pressure in energy scrips

KARACHI: The stock market fell by 273 points on Friday as selling pressure seen in energy scrips. The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 41,631 points as against 41,904 points showing a decline of 273 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in a range today between +234 points and -345 points and closed the session -273 points.

Despite slight recovery in international crude oil prices, Oil & gas chain remained subdued with E&P stocks declining further by approximately 2 percent on average. Similarly, PSO showed selling pressure.

Fertilizer Companies, EFERT and FFC are said to announce a cut in Price of Urea by Rs150/bag and Rs. 300/bag respectively and caused selling in Fertilizer scrips.

Technology sector posted 33.3 million trading volume, followed by O&GMCs (27.6 million) and Vanaspati (24 million). Among scrips, UNITY led the table with 24 million shares, followed by HASCOL (23.5 million) and TRG (12.4 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-120 points), E&P (-100 points), Cement (-46 points), Tobacco (+32 points) and Technology (+13 points).

Volumes increased from 162.3 million shares to 193.4 million shares (+19 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 15 percent to reach US$ 51 million as against 44.3 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, HASCOL, TRG, AVN and BOP, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include PAKT (+28 points), HASCOL (+12 points), SYS (+12 points), MUREB (+10 points) and ISL (+5 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PPL (-38 points), UBL (-31 points), LUCK (-30 points), OGDC (-28 points), and HBL (-27 points).

January 31, 2020
FBR extends return filing date up to February 28

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday granted sixth consecutive extension for filing income tax return for tax year 2019 up to February 28, 2020.

The FBR issued Income Tax Circular No. 18 of 2019 for extension in date of filing income tax returns/statements for tax year 2019.

The FBR said that the date of filing of return of total income / statements of final taxation for individuals and associations of persons for the tax year 2019 which was due on September 30, 2019 and extended up to December 31, 2019 has been extended up to February 28, 2020.

The FBR further said that the date of filing of return of total income/statements of final taxation for companies for the tax year 2019, which was due on September 30, 2019 and extended up to December 31, 2019, in respect of those companies who have paid 90 percent of the admitted tax liability on or before September 30, 2019, has been allowed further extension up to February 28, 2020.

The date of filing of return of total income/statements of final taxation for companies for tax year 2019, which was due on December 31, 2019 has also been extended up to February 28, 2020.

January 31, 2020
Engro Fertilizers reduces urea prices by Rs160

KARACHI: Engro Fertilizers has announced reduction of urea prices by Rs160 per bag effective from February 01, 2020.

A statement on Friday said that Engro Fertilizers welcomed the decision of the government to reduce Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) on urea.

In line with the decision and to support the valued farmers of the country, Engro Fertilizers has decided to fully pass on the benefit of change in GIDC rates by announcing a 160/bag reduction in urea prices, effective February 1, 2020.

It is worth highlighting that the impact of reduction in GIDC varies for different fertilizer manufacturers. Engro Fertilizers is passing on the full impact of the government decision, given the particular mix of gases being received by the company.

Engro Fertilizers has been a trusted partner of Pakistani farmers for over 50 years and is committed to their well-being by promoting improved farm economics.

In continuation of its past commitment, Engro Fertilizers has taken the lead in urea price reduction to support the farmer-friendly decision of the government.

January 31, 2020
Rupee eases by two paisas ahead weekly holidays

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee eased by two paisas against dollar on Friday owing to demand of the foreign currency ahead of two weekly holidays.

The rupee ended Rs154.49 to the dollar from last day’s closing of Rs154.47 in interbank foreign exchange market.

Currency dealers said that the market was remained flat. However, advance buying was witnessed ahead of to two weekly holidays.

The foreign currency market was initiated at the range between Rs154.44 and Rs154.47. The market recorded day high of Rs154.49 and low of Rs154.47 and closed at Rs154.49.

The exchange rate in open market however witnessed significant gain in local currency value.

The buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs154.30/Rs154.60 from previous day’s closing of Rs154.50/Rs154.80 in cash ready market.

January 31, 2020
SBP fixes merchant discount rate up to 2.5% on digital payments

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday announced that Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for Point of Sale (POS) acquiring Pakistan shall be within the range of 1.5%-2.5% for both existing and new merchants.

The following merchant categories shall be exempt from this requirement:

Government and Utilities

MCC 9211: Court Costs, Including Alimony and Child Support

MCC 9222: Fines

MCC 9223: Bail and Bond Payments

MCC 9311: Tax Payments

MCC 9399: Government Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)

MCC 4900: Utilities -Electric, Gas, Water and Sanitary

Education

MCC 8211: Elementary and Secondary Schools

MCC 8220; Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools and Junior Colleges

MCC 8241: Correspondence Schools

MCC 8244: Business and Secretarial Schools

MCC 8249: Vocational and Trade Schools

MCC 8299: Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Fuel

MCC 5541: Service Stations

MCC 5542: Automated Fuel Dispensers

MCC5172: Petrolium and Petroleum Products

MCC 5983: Fuel -Fuel Oil, Wood, Coal, Liquefied Petroleum

The SBP said that the Interchange Reimbursement Fee (IRF) for debit and prepaid cards issued in Pakistan used on domestic POS terminals shall be capped at 0.5 percent.

The central bank said that during the past few years, there has been considerable growth in the digital payment infrastructure of the country, especially in the number of debit cards being issued by the banks to their customers.

Although, the Point of Sale (POS) infrastructure has also grown during the past few years, its growth has largely remained restricted to high value merchants in big cities.

Some of the key challenges being faced by the POS acquiring industry in Pakistan include high Interchange Reimbursement Fee (IRF), lower than cost Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) to onboard high value merchants and less interest by banks in offering low cost domestic payment cards to their customers.

The SBP said that the card issuers shall offer SBP approved Domestic Payment Scheme (DPS) Card as the default card at the time of issuance or renewal of debit cards.

Accordingly card requesting customers shall be offered the following options in order of priority:

Either an exclusive DPS card or a DPS card co-badged with an International Payment Scheme (IPS)

An exclusive IPS card upon written request of the customer

The central bank said that the instructions shall come into effect from April 01, 2020.

January 31, 2020
Senior tax officers oppose return filing date extension

KARACHI: Senior officers of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) opposed to further extend the last date for filing income tax return for tax year 2019.

The last date for filing annual return for tax year 2019 is expiring today evening i.e. January 31, 2020. The FBR already granted date extension around five times so far for filing the annual return.

The senior FBR officers at various tax offices have said that there was no need to further extend the date for filing the income tax returns because sufficient returns had been received by the FBR.

They further said that the deadline has been given to ensure compliance by taxpayers. They said that returns will be filed in case further time is granted.

The officers said that time and again extension in return filing date hurt the flow of working at the FBR.

They said that the FBR should invoke penal action on late return filers in order to ensure future compliance.

For the tax year 2018 the FBR extended the date for filing income tax returns up to August 09, 2019. Even to date the FBR is receiving income tax returns for the tax year 2018.

To an estimate the FBR received around 2.6 million returns for tax year 2019 till January 29, 2020. The FBR is expecting to receive 2.7 million returns by January 31, 2020, according to FBR sources.

The sources said that the FBR had estimated around 3 million returns for tax year 2019. The FBR will issue Active Taxpayers List (ATL) for tax year 2019 on March 01, 2020 and this list will remain applicable till February 28, 2021. Therefore, the return filing for the tax year 2019 will continue till the issuance of ATL for tax year 2020.

The ATL for tax year 2018 will expire on February 29, 2020. The FBR has received around 2.76 million returns for tax year 2018 as filing of returns for this year is continued so far.

January 31, 2020
Pakistan suspends flight operation with China on coronavirus threat

KARACHI: Pakistan has suspended direct flight operation to China in wake of coronavirus threat. The direct flight operation will remain suspend till February 02, 2020, said a notification issued by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The notification said: “all direct flight operations between Pakistan and China are to be stalled on immediate basis, initially till 2nd February, 2020, subject to subsequent review.”

The CAA intimated about the government decision to Air China Pakistan and China Southern Airlines.

Major airlines of the world have already suspended some flights to China because of the coronavirus outbreak. The airlines that have already suspended flight operations are included: Lufthansan, Air Tanzania, American Airlines, British Airways, FinnAir, Air Canada etc.

The some of the airlines have suspended flights due to massive drop in demand.

BBC reported that death toll from the coronavirus outbreak had rise to 170. It reported quoting Chinese health authorities that there were 7,711 confirmed cases in the country as of January 29, 2020.

January 31, 2020
CNIC condition on purchases above Rs50,000 applies from tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The condition of Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) on purchases above Rs50,000 shall apply from tomorrow (February 01, 2020) as relaxation provided to small traders is expiring today.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and representatives of traders’ associations on October 30, 2019 reached on an agreement under which the application of CNIC information was deferred till January 31, 2020.

Through Finance Act, 2019, it was made mandatory that a registered person making a taxable supply shall issue a serially numbered tax invoice at the time of supply of goods containing the following particulars, in Urdu or English language, namely: –

(a) name, address and registration number of the supplier;

(b) name, address and registration, number of the recipient and NIC or NTN of the unregistered person, as the case may be, excluding supplies made by a retailer where the transaction value inclusive of sales tax amount does not exceed rupees fifty thousand, if sale is being made to an ordinary consumer.

Explanation. – For the purpose of this clause, ordinary consumer means a person who is buying the goods for his own consumption and not for the purpose of re-sale or processing.

The condition of CNIC or NTN was made mandatory from August 01, 2019.

However, on opposition from small traders the government after an agreement on October 30, 2019, postponed the applicability of CNIC till January 31, 2020.

The FBR on October 04, 2019 issued definition / rules related to condition of CNIC.

The FBR said that keeping in view the problems reported by the registered persons is ensuring proper identity of the buyer to fulfil the requirement of reporting NTN/NIC of the buyer in terms of section 23 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, it is directed that the NIC/NTN of the buyer with respect to taxable supplies to an unregistered person shall be deemed to have been reported in good faith by the supplier provided that:

(a) The tax invoice complies with the requirements of section 23(b) of the Act.

(b) Payment made by or on behalf of the unregistered purchaser of the amount of the tax invoice, inclusive of sales tax and applicable further tax, is deposited into the supplier’s declared business bank account.

(c) The NIC provided by the purchaser is found authenticated by the National Data and Registration Authority (NADRA).

(d) The NIC/NTN provided is not of the employee of the seller or of his associates as defined under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

The issuance of a show cause notice to a registered person being a seller on account of any matter arising out of the NIC provided by a purchaser shall not be made without the prior approval of the Member (IR-Operations), FBR after providing an opportunity to be heard.

January 31, 2020