Pkrevenue.com

Month: January 2020

  • ECC approves waiver of all port charges against Karkey rental power

    ECC approves waiver of all port charges against Karkey rental power

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) on Wednesday approved waiver of all port charges against Karkey rental power.

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting at the Cabinet Division.

    The ECC considered and approved waiving off all port dues/ charges amounting to Rs 194,95 million on January 31, 2020 or till the vessels leave the port accruing against Karkey.

    The said waiver was required as a consequence of the settlement agreement reached between the Government of Pakistan and Karkey.

    On the summary moved by the Ministry of Industries and Production for the payment of outstanding liabilities of Pakistan Steel Mills against Sui-Southern Gas Company for the non- payment of Gas bills, ECC approved the release of Rs.350 million for the partial settlement of the SSGC liability.

    Establishment of Trust Fund to implement risk sharing facility under 3rd Tranche of US$10 million of credit line of US$140 million obtained from World Bank for Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company Limited (PMRCL) was also approved.

    The purpose of the Trust will be to leverage the Trust Funds by issuing guarantees in favor of the mortgagors to cover possible losses from eligible mortgage loans.

    Finance Division also sought approval for the demand of Rs 80 million as Technical supplementary grant in the budget of the Finance Division for the Financial Year 2019-20 for providing assistance for families of the government employees who expired during service and provision of Adhoc relief allowance 2019.

    ECC also approved the proposal sent by the Ministry of Finance for the issuance of direction of the Federal Government to the State Bank of Pakistan under sub-section 6(A) of the section 17 of the SBP Act 1956 to sell its shares in House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFCL).

    ECC approved the grant of Technical Supplementary Grant amounting to Rs.100 million to National Information Technology Board (NITB) under the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication for centralized procurement of ICT infrastructure to ensure e-readiness of Federal Government for the implementation of the E-governance program.

  • Return filing must for persons own immovable property above 500 square yards or 1000CC vehicle: FBR

    Return filing must for persons own immovable property above 500 square yards or 1000CC vehicle: FBR

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday said that return filing is must for persons own immovable property above 500 square yards or 1000CC motor vehicles.

    The FBR in a statement said that as per Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 all those individuals who owned 500 square yards or 1000CC motor vehicles are required to file annual income tax returns.

    The FBR reminded persons falling within the requirement of the law to must file their returns for tax year 2019 by January 31, 2020.

    The FBR extended the last date for return filing for tax year 2019 up to January 31, 2020. The FBR said that people should avail this opportunity in order to avoid harsh penal action.

    As per Section 114 of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 following class of persons or companies are required to file their annual income tax returns:

    (a) every company;

    (ab) every person (other than a company) whose taxable income for the year exceeds the maximum amount that is not chargeable to tax under this Ordinance for the year; or

    (ac) any non-profit organization as defined in clause (36) of section 2;

    (ad) any welfare institution approved under clause (58) of Part I of the Second Schedule;

    (b) any person not covered by clause (a), (ab), (ac) or (ad) who,—

    (i) has been charged to tax in respect of any of the two preceding tax years;

    (ii) claims a loss carried forward under this Ordinance for a tax year;

    (iii) owns immovable property with a land area of five hundred square yards or more or owns any flat located in areas falling within the municipal limits existing immediately before the commencement of Local Government laws in the provinces; or areas in a Cantonment; or the Islamabad Capital Territory;

    (iv) owns immoveable property with a land area of five hundred square yards or more located in a rating area;

    (v) owns a flat having covered area of two thousand square feet or more located in a rating area;

    (vi) owns a motor vehicle having engine capacity above 1000 CC;

    (vii) has obtained National Tax Number; or

    (viii) is the holder of commercial or industrial connection of electricity where the amount of annual bill exceeds rupees five hundred thousand;

    (ix) is a resident person registered with any chamber of commerce and industry or any trade or business association or any market committee or any professional body including Pakistan Engineering Council, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, Pakistan Bar Council or any Provincial Bar Council, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan or Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan; or

    (x) every resident person being an individual required to file foreign income and assets statement under section 116A.

  • SECP proposes amendments to AML, CFT regulations to comply FATF recommendations

    SECP proposes amendments to AML, CFT regulations to comply FATF recommendations

    ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed amendments to Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2018 as recommended by FATF.

    The SECP on Wednesday said that the amendments had been proposed to further strengthen SECP’s AML/CFT regime.

    The proposed amendments elaborate on the Risk Based Approach requiring regulated persons (RPs) including; securities brokers, futures brokers, insurers, Takaful operators, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and Modarabas to conduct risk assessment that is aligned with Pakistan’s latest National Risk Assessment and ensure implementation of Targeted Financial Sanctions.

    The minimum information required for the purpose of KYC/CDD has been listed to make documentation requirements simple and clearer.

    Moreover, the draft amendments provide more clarity on verification for Beneficial Ownership, close associates and family members of PEPs. The RPs are encouraged to use technological solutions for screening and monitoring of transactions as per best practices.

    The SECP has tried to address the regulated sector’s feedback regarding gaps in the implementation of AML/CFT Framework.

  • Industry cannot survive at existing high policy rate: FPCCI

    Industry cannot survive at existing high policy rate: FPCCI

    KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Wednesday criticized the central bank for maintaining high policy rate stance.

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  • Stock market plunges by 400 points as policy rate disappoints investors

    Stock market plunges by 400 points as policy rate disappoints investors

    KARACHI: The stock market plunged by 400 points on Wednesday as no reduction in policy rate by the central bank disappointed investors.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 41,899 points as against 42,299 points showing a decline of 400 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that following yesterday’s slide, the market went down by another 400 points.

    The decision of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) of not cutting the rates at this stage caused concern amongst investors and resulted in booking profits in Cement, Steel sectors.

    On the contrary, E&P and OMCs performed better in relative terms on the back of slight improvement in international crude oil prices.

    Start of market saw FFBL announcing financial results which were poorer than anticipation and caused the share price declining to lower circuit.

    Technology sector topped the volumes with 34.3 million shares, followed by Cement (26.1 million) and Banks (23.9 million). WTL realized trading volume of 22.7 million shares, whereas HASCOL realized (17.9 million) and MLCF (10.8 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-148 points), Cement (-69 points), Fertilizer (-53 points), Power (-31 points), and Inv Banks (-21 points).

    Volumes increased by 4 percent to reach 197.1 million shares as against 189 million. Average traded value increased by 10 percent to reach US$ 47.9 million as against US$ 43.4 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, HASCOL, MLCF, KEL and FFBL, which formed 35 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively include OGDC (+12 points), BAHL (+9 points), ISL (+5 points), SRVI (+3 points) and GLAXO (+3 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-62 points), MCB (-44 points), LUCK (-38 points), UBL (-30 points), and ENGRO (-25 points).

  • FBR urges return filing for tax broadening

    FBR urges return filing for tax broadening

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has urged people to file their income tax returns for broadening of tax base.

    In a tweet on Wednesday, the FBR said that individuals having annual income above Rs400,000 are required to file their income tax returns for tax year 2019.

    The FBR urged that persons having taxable income should play their part to broaden the tax base and become active taxpayers.

    The last date for filing income tax returns for tax year 2019 is January 31, 2020.

    The FBR has already extended the date from September 30, 2019 in order to facilitate the taxpayers in discharging their liabilities.

    The FBR will issue the Active Taxpayers List (ATL) for tax year 2019 on March 01, 2020. This list will carry the names of those taxpayers who file their returns for the said tax year.

    In case of non-filing of returns, taxpayers will liable to pay 100 percent additional withholding tax on various transactions.

  • Rupee ends unchanged for third straight day

    Rupee ends unchanged for third straight day

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended remained unchanged for third consecutive day against the dollar on Wednesday owing to lackluster trading activities.

    The rupee ended Rs154.57 to the dollar, same previous day’s level, in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency dealers said that the rupee had maintained the levels as importers and corporate buyers were cautious. They said that due to coronavirus outbreak in China the international oil prices had fallen.

    Besides, the health alerts issued by the government authorities due to coronavirus also prevented fresh orders to import Chinese goods.

    The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs154.55 and Rs154.60. The market recorded day high of Rs154.59 and low of Rs154.55 and closed at Rs154.57.

    The exchange rate in open market was also remained unchanged. The buying and selling of the dollar was traded at Rs154.50/Rs154.80, the same previous day’s level, in cash ready market.

  • High policy rate stifles economic activity; dwindles profits, job cuts

    High policy rate stifles economic activity; dwindles profits, job cuts

    KARACHI: High policy rate has stifled the economic activity, resulting in dwindled profits and job cuts, this was noted in the financial results of Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited for the period of third quarter ended December 2019.

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  • Meezan Bank signs agreement for e-ticket payments

    Meezan Bank signs agreement for e-ticket payments

    KARACHI: Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank has recently entered into a partnership with Bookme.pk – Pakistan’s first and largest online ticketing platform that helps customers buy bus, airline and event tickets online using the Bank’s state-of-the-art Internet & Mobile Banking channels.

    The partnership will enable the Bank’s customers to simply log on to their Meezan Bank Internet and Mobile Banking Application portals to conduct secure online transactions and instantly buy tickets by directly checking out with their existing Meezan Bank accounts.

    In addition, the customers will also get to avail best value fares and discounts from Bookme.pk’s large portfolio of digital tickets.

    Commenting on this partnership, Meezan Bank’s Head of Alternate Distribution Channels, Shariq Mubeen said: “Meezan Bank is committed to facilitating advanced and innovative methods of payments that can offer greater convenience to its customers. This initiative with Bookme.pk will provide them with an instant and convenient way to purchase great value tickets through our seamless ADC Channels.”

    “We strive to curate a seamless ticket booking experience for our customers as a leading disrupter in the e-ticketing space in Pakistan. We are very proud to announce the onboarding of Meezan Bank, the first and largest Islamic Bank in Pakistan, as our digital ticketing partner for the enablement of e-ticketing services across Pakistan. We look forward to a mutually beneficial strategic partnership with Meezan Bank and further disrupting the e-ticketing industry across Pakistan,” said Faizan Aslam – CEO, Bookme.pk.