ISLAMABAD, April 17, 2025 — The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken a major step to enhance regional trade by issuing draft rules for the Uzbekistan-Pakistan Transit Trade (UPTT) mechanism. These regulations aim to formalize and streamline the movement of goods between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, promoting cross-border trade through efficient logistics and transparent customs procedures.
(more…)Day: September 23, 2021
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Abetment in tax matters to be offence
Section 199 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, updated up to June 30, 2021, now explicitly outlines that knowingly and willfully aiding, abetment, assisting, inciting, or inducing another person to commit an offense under the ordinance is a punishable offense, carrying the risk of a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
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Foreign exchange reserves fall to $26.402 billion
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $663 million during the week ended September 17, 2021.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday said that the foreign exchange reserves of the country fell to $26.402 billion by week ended September 17, 2021 as compared with $27.065 billion a week ago.
The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP also fell by $480 million to $19.543 billion by week ended September 17, 2021 as compared with $20.023 billion a week ago.
The State Bank said that the decline in foreign exchange reserves were mainly due to external payments.
The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial bank came down by $183 million to $6.859 billion by week ended September 17, 2021 as compared with $7.042 billion a week ago.
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SBP prohibits bank loans for imported vehicles
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday amended regulations to prohibit financing for imported vehicles.
“The changes in the PRs effectively prohibit financing for imported vehicles,” the SBP said in a statement.
According to the statement, the SBP had revised Prudential Regulations (PRS) for Consumer Financing.
This targeted step will help to moderate demand growth in the economy, leading to slower import growth and thus supporting the balance of payments.
The changes in the regulations effectively prohibit financing for imported vehicles and tighten regulatory requirements for financing of domestically manufactured/ assembled vehicles of more than 1000 cc engine capacity and other Consumer Finance facilities like personal loans and credit cards. Following changes have been made in this regard:
— Maximum tenure of auto finance has been reduced from seven (7) to five (5) years;
— Maximum tenure of personal loan has been reduced from five (5) to four (4) years
— Maximum debt-burden ratio, allowed to a borrower, has been decreased from 50 to 40 percent;
— Overall auto financing limits availed by one person from all banks/DFIs, in aggregate, will not exceed Rs3,000,000, at any point in time; and
— Minimum down payment for auto financing has been increased from 15 percent to 30 percent.
With the objective to protect lower to middle-income category purchases, these new regulations are not applicable to locally manufactured or assembled vehicles of up to 1,000 cc engine capacity, the SBP said.
They are also not applicable to locally manufactured electric vehicles to promote the use of clean energy.
The financing of these two categories of vehicles will continue to be governed by the previous set of regulations.
Further, in order to encourage Roshan Digital Accounts and facilitate overseas Pakistan who have opened these accounts, regulatory instructions for Roshan Apni Car products of the banks or DFIs have also not been changed.
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IR intelligence conducts two raids against tax evasion
ISLAMABAD: The Intelligence and Investigation of Inland Revenue (IR) has conducted raids in Lahore and Multan against entities involved in tax evasion, said a statement issued by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday.
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Tax laws amended to include digital payment
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday said that tax law has been amended to include mode of digital payment.
To improve documentation, a new clause (la) has been inserted through Tax Laws (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 in section 21 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
Previously payments under a single head account exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand rupees, made by any taxpayer were required to be made through crossed cheque or crossed baking instruments including digital payments.
Through this amendment, payments made by a company under a single head of account exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand rupees other than by digital means from business bank account of the taxpayer notified to the Commissioner under section 114A of the Ordinance shall not be admissible as deductions.
However, certain expenditures on account of utility bills, freight charges, travel fare, and payment of taxes and fines would continue to be admissible even though paid in cash or via traditional banking instruments.
The purpose behind this legislative enactment is to encourage digital payments and discourage traditional mode of transactions by the corporate sector in the first phase. However, owing to lack of total digital readiness by some corporate taxpayers, the corporate taxpayers are allowed to switch to this mode w.e.f. November 01, 2021.
In the intervening period they may use digital payments or continue with the existing procedure of making payments by a crossed cheque drawn on a bank or by crossed bank draft or crossed pay order or any other crossed banking instrument showing transfer of amount from the business bank account of the taxpayer.
The FBR further said that currently, any salary paid or payable exceeding twenty five thousand rupees per month has to be made through cross cheque or direct transfer of funds to the employee’s bank account under clause (m) of section 21 of the Ordinance.
In order to bring this provision in conformity with newly inserted clause (la) ibid, in case of payments against salary in excess of twenty five thousand rupees per month, the mode of digital payment has been added to the available modes referred to above.
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KIBOR rates on September 23, 2021
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday issued the following Karachi Interbank Offered Rates (KIBOR) on September 23, 2021.
Tenor BID OFFER 1 – Week 7.20 7.70 2 – Week 7.24 7.74 1 – Month 7.29 7.79 3 – Month 7.49 7.74 6 – Month 7.86 8.11 9 – Month 8.06 8.56 1 – Year 8.25 8.75 -
Emirates pavilion to welcome visitors of Expo 2020 Dubai
KARACHI: Expo 2020 Dubai’s must-see aviation attraction is gearing up to open its doors to the public on October 01, 2021.
Located in the Opportunity District, and within walking distance of the Al Wasl Dome, the Emirates Pavilion offers a preview for the future of commercial aviation, reframing the role that science and technology will play in the next 50 years of air travel, as it welcomes visitors to experience two floors of interactive multi-sensory installations.
From today, visitors to Expo 2020 Dubai can plan their visit to the Emirates Pavilion and book their preferred date and time slots in advance.
Construction on the Emirates Pavilion began in March 2019 and was completed in June 2021. During its design and construction phases, the Emirates Pavilion followed a number of sustainability principles, using non-hazardous, regional, reusable and recyclable materials in its overall structure, and incorporated different design solutions to reduce energy and water consumption.
The Emirates Pavilion’s towering four storey design and façade are modelled around an aircraft’s wings taking flight, with 24 aluminium cladded fins that curve around two sides of the building structure. The Emirates Pavilion’s exterior lighting includes an 800 metre LED system, which illuminates in vibrant colours at night.
The interior’s bright, ultramodern design lets in ample natural light and serves as a backdrop for the immersive experiences, and can welcome 120 people an hour.
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Prosecution for sharing unauthorized information
In a bid to strengthen the protection of sensitive taxpayer information and maintain the integrity of the tax system, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has introduced stringent provisions under Section 198 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
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KSE-100 index plunges by 300 points amid selling
KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged by 300 points on Thursday. The stock market witnessed a decline due to selling pressure observed later in the day.
The KSE-100 index closed at 45,297 points as against the previous day’s closing of 45,597 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market saw a rebound early on with the Index climbing 342 points, however, profit booking overtook and eventually converted into aggressive selling that eroded the gains made earlier with a drop of 514 points near the close.
Technology, Banks, E&P, O&GMCs and Refinery sectors got the most thrashing with a little bit of respite in the Cement sector. Among scrips, WTL realized a trading volume of 89.1 million shares followed by HUMNL (29.2 million) and TELE (23.3 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-91 points), E&P (-52 points), Banks (-39 points), Fertilizer (-33 points) and Refinery (-30 points).
Volumes declined from 583.7 million shares to 443.8 million shares (-24 per cent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 29 per cent to reach US$ 73.3 million as against US$ 102.9 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, HUMNL, TELE, TREET and BYCO, which formed 39 per cent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include ABOT (+24 points), EPCL (+13 points), MTL (+11 points), HUBC (+10 points) and HMB (+9 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-64 points), PPL (-27 points), MCB (-27 points), SYS (-27 points) and OGDC (-26 points).