Pkrevenue.com

Month: June 2020

  • Customs officials promoted to post of assistant collector

    Customs officials promoted to post of assistant collector

    KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday notified promotions of customs officials to the post of Assistant Collector (BS-17) in the Pakistan Customs Service with immediate effect and until further orders.

    Following officers have been promoted to the post of Assistant Collector (BS-17):

    01. Muhammad Khalid, Superintendent, RTO, Gujranwala.

    02. Mehmood Ahmad Nasir, Superintendent, CRTO, Lahore.

    03. Manoo Mal Galwani, Superintendent, Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Lahore.

    04. Amjad Lal Junejo, Superintendent, RTO, Hyderabad.

    05. Ms. Kausar Jabeen, Superintended, RTO-II Karachi.

    06. Samasam Qadir Shah, Superintendent Preventive Service, MCC (Enforcement & Compliance), Karachi.

    07. Nasir Iqbal Kasuri, Principal Appraiser, MCC (Appraisement and Facilitation) East, Karachi.

    08. Abdul Qayyum, Principal Appraiser, MCC (Appraisement & Facilitation)-East, Karachi.

    09. Shafiullah, Principal Appraiser, MCC (Appraisement and Facilitation) – East, Karachi.

    10. Abdul Hameed, Principal Appraiser, Directorate General of Customs Valuation, Karachi.

    The FBR said that promotion of the officers will take effect from the date of their joining/change assumption, subject to the condition that no disciplinary proceedings/inquiry is pending against them. Their formal posting will b notified separately.

    The FBR said that the officials will be on probation for a period of one year, extendable for further period, not exceeding one year, provided that if no order is issued the day following the termination of probationary period, the appointment shall deem to be held until further order.

  • Rupee weakens by 31 paisas on import payment demand

    Rupee weakens by 31 paisas on import payment demand

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee weakened by 31 paisas against dollar on Friday owing to higher demand for import and corporate payment as fiscal year ending next week.

    The rupee ended Rs167.67 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs167.36 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency dealers said that the local unit was under pressure due to demand related to fiscal year end especially corporate payment. They said the rupee was also under pressure due to last trading day of the week and buyers were purchasing dollars in advance for future payments.

    It is pertinent to mention that the SBP received around $1.7 billion this week from internaitonal financial insitutions. However, the inflows also failed to give support to the local currency.

  • Customs collectorates to observe extended working hours on June 29-30

    Customs collectorates to observe extended working hours on June 29-30

    KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday said that the collectorates of Customs will observe extended working hours on June 29 and 30, 2020 to facilitate trade and business in payment of duty and taxes.

    The FBR said that all filed offices of customs will remain open and observe extended working hours till 10:00 PM on June 29, 2020 (Monday) and till 12:00 midnight on June 30, 2020 (Tuesday) for collection of duty and taxes.

    The FBR directed chief collectors of Customs to establish liaison with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and authorized branches of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to ensure transfer of the duty and taxes collected by these branches on June 30, 2020 to the respective branches of State Bank of Pakistan on the same date so as to account for the same towards collection for the month of June 2020.

  • Cash withdrawal should be exempted from withholding tax; Senate recommends key changes in Finance Bill 2020

    Cash withdrawal should be exempted from withholding tax; Senate recommends key changes in Finance Bill 2020

    ISLAMABAD: The Senate of Pakistan has recommended the government to abolish withholding tax on cash transactions from banks. In its key tax recommendations for finalizing budget 2020/2021, the Senate recommended that the government should abolish all kinds of withholding tax chargeable on cash transactions from banks.

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  • Senate advises salary increase by 10 percent

    Senate advises salary increase by 10 percent

    ISLAMABAD: The Senate of Pakistan has recommended increase in salary of government employees by at least 10 percent for fiscal year starting July 01, 2020.

    As per the general consensus recommendations of the upper house after the debate on budget 2020/2021, it is recommended that salary of government employees should be enhanced at least 10 percent.

    The upper house further recommended that the federal government should double the budget for education and health sectors.

    It is recommended that all important debt agreements must be placed before the parliament for scrutiny immediately.

    The budget allocation for ministry of national health services, regulations and coordination must be enhanced to a minimum five percent as per WHO recommendations.

    The 11 percent cut imposed on the share of the provinces in violation of National Finance Commission (NFC) Award must be revised immediately.

    The Senate of Pakistan recommended to the National Assembly that the allocation for Ministry of Education must be increased by 20 percent.

    It is recommended that salaries of the medical and para-medical staff working in ICT should be enhanced reasonably.

    The Senate recommended that the government should allocate more funds for management of rain water reservoirs. A special fund should also be allocated for construction of new small/mini dams.

    Budgetary allocation of Higher Education Commission (HEC) should be enhanced to Rs100 billion.

    The upper house recommended that the government should allocate funds for improvement in the aviation sector and to upgrade airports all over the country.

    The government should expedite the process of loss making projects in a transparent manner.

    The government should raise the amount of funds allotted for locust control in 2020/2021, from Rs4 billion to Rs8 billion keeping in view of the losses suffered by small farmers in locusts affected areas.

    It is recommended to raise at least 50 percent in the corona stimulus package for fertilizer subsidy, loan remission and other relief to the farmers, keeping in view of covid-19 situation and food insecurity on account of locusts attacks.

  • Senate recommends tobacco must be treated as crop, exempted from duty/taxes

    Senate recommends tobacco must be treated as crop, exempted from duty/taxes

    ISLAMABAD: The Senate of Pakistan has recommended a significant policy shift, advocating for tobacco to be treated as a crop and exempted from duties and taxes. This recommendation was made in the context of the Finance Bill 2020, reflecting the upper house’s stance on the agricultural status of tobacco.

    (more…)
  • Senate recommends extending tax amnesty to construction sector till June 2021

    Senate recommends extending tax amnesty to construction sector till June 2021

    ISLAMABAD: Senate of Pakistan has recommended that tax amnesty i.e. immunity from explaining source of income for builders and developers should be extended up to June 30, 2021.

    (more…)
  • Tax collection target of Rs4.96 trillion for 2020/2021 achievable

    Tax collection target of Rs4.96 trillion for 2020/2021 achievable

    ISLAMABAD: Hammad Azhar, Minister for Industries and Production, has said that the tax collection target of Rs4.96 trillion assigned to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during next fiscal year is achievable.

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  • SBP foreign exchange reserves slip to $9.96 billion

    SBP foreign exchange reserves slip to $9.96 billion

    KARACHI: The official foreign exchange reserves of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $146 million to $9.961 billion by week ended June 19, 2020, according to weekly data of foreign exchange reserves of the country issued by the SBP on Thursday.

    The official reserves of the central bank were at $10.107 billion by week ended June 12, 2020.

    The SBP said that during the week ended June 19, 2020, SBP reserves decreased by $146 million to $ 9,961.2 million. This decline is attributed to government external debt payments of $ 244.5 million.

    During the current week, SBP has received around $1,725 million, including $725 million from the World Bank, US$500 million from Asian Development Bank and US$500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

    These funds will be part of SBP weekly reserves data as of 26-June-2020 to be released on 02-July-2020.

    The total foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $45 million to $16.73 billion by week ended June 19, 2020 as compared with $16.775 billion a week ago.

    However, the foreign exchange reserves of commercial banks increased by $101 million to $6.769 billion by week ended June 19, 2020 as compared with $6.668 billion a week ago.

  • Equity market sheds 325 points on fall in global oil prices

    Equity market sheds 325 points on fall in global oil prices

    KARACHI: The equity market ended down by 325 points on Thursday following decline in global stock markets and ease in international oil prices.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 33,710 points as against 34,034 points showing a decline of 325 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market followed the downtrend witnesses in global stock markets, especially taking negative effect of international crude prices that shed US$3/bbl overnight.

    E&P, O&GMCs and Refinery sectors sustained price loss. Cement sector stocks showed some price performance on the back of anticipated increase in cement dispatches in the ongoing month. Overall, selling activity was observed across the board.

    Post session, SBP announced further rate cut of 100bps to 7 percent, which does give an explanation for a more than usual negativity in the banking scrips, particularly in HBL, MCB and BAFL.

    As have been the practice during the past few sessions, institutional investors are seem more interested in moderate closure to FY20 and therefore execute trades of marked-to-market nature than even driven trades.

    Technology stocks again led the volumes with 51.7 million shares, followed by Cement (15 million) and Refinery (11.4 million). Among scrips, WTL came forward with 19.5 million shares, followed by HUMNL (13.4 million) and TRG (12.5 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-86 points), Banks (-55 points), Power (-39 points), Food (-39 points) and Fertilizer (-30 points).

    Volumes declined from 195.7 million shares to 168.4 million shares (-15 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 9 percent to reach US$ 31.5 million as against US$ 34.5 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, HUMNL, TRG, PRLR1 and KEL, which formed 37 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include DAWH (+12 points), EFERT (+9 points), COLG (+5 points), ABOT (+3 points) and SRVI (+3 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-37 points), NESTLE (-35 points), OGDC (-34 points), MCB (-30 points), and PPL (-27 points).