Day: January 4, 2021

FBR to issue ATL 2020 on March 01

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will issued Active Taxpayers List (ATL) for tax year 2020 on March 01, 2021 which will contain names of those taxpayers who file their returns by due date or file return after due date with fine and penalty.

Under Rule 81B of Income Tax Rules 2002, the FBR issues ATL on the first day of March in each financial year. The appearance of name of taxpayers on the ATL guarantees certain benefits including lower rate of withholding tax on certain transactions.

The FBR on Monday advised the taxpayers to assure inclusion of their names in the upcoming ATL by filing annual return for tax year 2020.

The FBR said that Filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) has improved significantly during Tax Year 2020, a statement by the Federal Board of Revenue said. 1.768 million taxpayers filed their income tax returns before the deadline of December 8, 2020 while the tax received by FBR stood at Rs 22 billion by this date. The number of filers has further increased to 2.316 million along with the tax collection rising up to Rs 43.6 billion till January 4, 2021 as compared to 2.181 million filers along with the tax collection of Rs 28 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year, showing an increase of 55 percent in tax collection in current year.

It is also mentionable here that the number of income tax returns filed after the deadline of December 8, 2020 remained 0.547 million along with the tax collection of an amount worth Rs22 Billion approximately. FBR has launched a number of initiatives for the facilitation of taxpayers that have resulted in the increased number in filing of Income Tax Returns.

FBR will issue the updated list of Active Taxpayers after March 01, 2021 and only those taxpayers will be included in the list who have filed their Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2020.

Enlistment in Active Taxpayers List comes with a variety of benefits for taxpayers that include exemption from Withholding Tax in a number of financial transactions and withholding of tax at half of the rate on many other financial transactions carried out by non-filers i.e those not on Active Taxpayers List. Possible legal action on account of concealment of income based of tax withheld on any financial transaction.

It may be noted that the amount of fine on late filing increases in proportion with the delayed period of time.

FBR has urged all taxpayers to file their Income Tax Returns at their earliest to get their names enlisted in the upcoming ATL.

January 4, 2021
Share market gains 252 points amid buying activity

KARACHI: The share market gained 252 points on Monday owing to positive sentiments prevailed and the market witnessed buying activity.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 44,686 points as against 44,434 points showing an increase of 252 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note and carried the momentum shown on the last trading day, especially with reference to resolution of circular debt that resulted in strong buying in energy chain (HUBC, KAPCO, PSO).

E&P sector also saw continuation of buying interest, not only due to an increase in international crude oil prices (which jumped 2 percent during the session) as well as the expectation of release of stuck receivables for PPL and OGDC.

Cyclicals (Cement and Steel) saw slump in stock prices due to profit booking. Tech stocks also bore selling pressure on the latest circular from NCCPL for implementation of close out mechanism for Future Contracts, as Tech stocks composes the most of the open positions in Futures contracts.

Among scrips, PAEL topped the volumes with 27.3 million shares, followed by HUBC (25.3 million) and HASCOL (24.9 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+163 points), Power (+127 points), O&GMCs (+96 points), Banks (++77 points) and Textile (+30 points).

Volumes increased from declined from 642.6 million shares to 540.6 million shares (-16 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 2 percent to reach US$ 166.6 million as against US$ 170.7 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PAEL, HUBC, HASCOL, WTL and TRG, which formed 23 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HUBC (+104 points), PSO (+79 points), PPL (+78 points), OGDC (+63 points) and MCB (+31 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-60 points), SYS (-33 points), LUCK (-31 points), DGKC (-21 points) and ENGRO (-19 points).

January 4, 2021
PTCL awarded optic fiber cable projects worth Rs3 billion

KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has been awarded two optic fiber cable projects worth Rs3 billion for providing connectivity in various districts of Sindh province.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) has awarded two Optic Fiber Cable (OFC) project contracts worth approximately Rs3 billion to PTCL for providing connectivity in Ghotki, Kashmore, Sukkur & Khairpur districts at a special ceremony held at Governor House, Karachi, a statement said on Monday.

Imran Ismail, Governor of Sindh was accompanied by Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication on the occasion.

The contracts were signed by Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, CEO, USF and Nadeem Khan, Acting CEO & Group Chief Financial Officer, PTCL.

Senior officials of the Government of Sindh, Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, USF and PTCL were also present at the ceremony.

On the occasion, Imran Ismail, Governor of Sindh said: “Today’s event marks another landmark achieved in the history of Pakistan and will go a long way in taking the developmental work being done by Government of Pakistan to a greater level. I am also hopeful that with the consistent efforts and spirits, Ministry of IT and Telecommunication will continue to undertake more challenging and productive programs in the future, for the promotion of IT and Telecommunication related services.

“I would like to congratulate Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin ul Haque, the dynamic teams of USF & PTCL on award of these projects that have been designed to connect 372 Educational Institutions, 170 Health Facilities, 217 Government Offices and 131 Banks within 5 KM radius of the node.

“I wish them all the very best for implementation of project objectives.”

Imran Ismail said that these projects will not only provide a digital highway for seamless broadband coverage to people residing in Ghotki, Kashmore, Sukkur and Khairpur Districts but also improve the lives of people, create job opportunities for them and empower local communities.

Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication while addressing on the occasion said: “I believe that Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, realizes the importance of information technology for the country as he envisioned Digital Pakistan and proved his commitment to turn this vision into reality.”

Syed Amin ul Haque also lauded the great performance of Ministry of IT and Telecommunication and its affiliated organizations. Moreover, IT parks are being created across the country, along with Data Centers, policy on Cloud, cyber security, manufacturing of Smart phonesand much more.

Speaking at the ceremony, Nadeem Khan, Acting CEO & Group Chief Financial Officer, PTCL said: “Being the national carrier, PTCL is the backbone of country’s communication infrastructure and primary internet service provider. We serve people of Pakistan from large metropolitan cities to remote rural areas. We are glad to collaborate with USF for establishment and operation of optical fiber connectivity in Ghotki, Kashmore, Sukkur and Khairpur districts. Aligned with the vision of a Digital Pakistan, we are committed to play our role in supporting the underserved communities and empower them for a better future.”

While sharing his views at the ceremony, Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, CEO, USF said: “I take the opportunity to say here that all these achievements have only been possible due to constant efforts of the Government of Pakistan. Federal Minister and Secretary for IT and Telecommunication have been torch bearers of the vision for a “Digital Pakistan” and have enabled USF to transform the lives of people of the country. They have given us tremendous cooperation, help and support, without which all this could not be achieved.

January 4, 2021
Rupee falls by 15 paisas on higher dollar demand

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee fell by 15 paisas against the dollar on Monday – the first trading day of 2021 – as the foreign exchange market opened after three days break.

The rupee ended Rs159.98 to the dollar from the closing of Rs159.83 of last trading day on December 31, 2020 in interbank foreign exchange market.

Currency dealers said that the rupee was under pressure because of high demand of the foreign currency for import and corporate payments.

The market was opened after three days due to bank holiday on January 01 and the two weekly holidays.

The dealers said that the market also witnessed supply of the dollar in the shape of export receipts and workers’ remittances, which supported the rupee from significant fall.

They said that the market was remained optimistic about improvement in rupee value in coming days due to improved inflows of export receipts.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razaq Dawood commented on the exports in December 2020 which have increased by 18.3 percent to $ 2,357 million as compared to $ 1,993 million in December 2019.

January 4, 2021
Inland Revenue examines persons buying motor vehicles through customs auction

KARACHI: The office of Inland Revenue (IR) of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched examination of persons who purchased large number of vehicles through customs auctions.

Sources in IR said on Monday that the probe had been initiated on the directives of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) regarding some bidders were frequently indulged in participating in bidding and buying large number of vehicles.

The FTO in a case of stuck up motor vehicles at ports, which were brought into Pakistan through personal baggage, transfer of residence or under gift schemes in violation of SRO 52(I)/2019 dated January 15, 2019 issued by the ministry of commerce.

As per details till November 25, 2020 the number of stuck up vehicles were 587 at the MCC East and West. Around 167 vehicles were auctioned till the date under review.

During the investigation of the case the FTO was told that a small number of so-call professional bidders purchased large number of vehicles regularly and then sell the same on huge profit in the open market.

“One of the reasons of purchase of vehicles by these bidders is that many interested persons from the general public either do not possess NTN or they don’t want to bring their names on record due to various reasons including subsequent taxation, hence, they prefer to purchase goods or vehicles through these bidders,” the FTO was informed.

The FTO was further informed that 62 bidders had purchased 167 vehicles auctioned during the period from July to November 2020, which 20 bidders purchased 117 vehicles.

The sources said that the FTO was told that an e-auction was to be introduced by the FBR and in this regard SRO 1174(I)/2020 dated October 26, 2020 was already issued.

However, date for implementation of e-auction rules would not be notified by the FBR later on as the e-auction module is still under development.

Customs authorities assured the FTO stating that after implementation of e-auction, the goods ripe for auction would be disposed of without delay, besides, the mafia of professional bidders would be addressed, resulting in improvement in revenue realization.

The findings of the FTO revealed: “During investigation, another aspect came to surface i.e. whether the bidders who participate in the auction proceedings declare their economic activities in their income tax returns.

“It is most probable that these economic activities may not be monitored by the IRS Wing, which if monitored carefully with due diligence may enhance legitimate revenue of the government.

“Thus, there is a need to share data/information with the concerned field formations of Inland Revenue so that this sector is brought into the tax net.”

The FTO recommended that the Collector, MCC Appraisement and Facilitation East and West, Karachi to pass on information about the bidders who participated in auctions on regular basis to respective IRS field formations.

January 4, 2021