A special judge may award imprisonment up to three years to a person who defaulted sales tax payment despite an opportunity from the tax authorities to pay the amount under Section 3, Section 6, Section 7 and Section 48 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
(more…)Month: November 2021
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Penalty for failure to notify changes in registration details
Section 33(4) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 has revealed penalty for failure to notify changes in registration details by taxpayers.
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Pakistan bans foreign travelers on new Covid variant
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has banned foreign travel from six South African countries and Hong Kong due to the emergence of a new coronavirus variant namely ‘Omicron’.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in his Tweet said: “Based on the emergence of the new Covid variant, notification has been issued restrict travel from 6 South African countries and Hong Kong.”
The minister who is also Chairman of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said the emergence of new variant makes it even more urgent to vaccinate all eligible citizens 12 years and older.
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Penalty for issuing unauthorized sales tax invoice
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has intensified efforts to curb unauthorized practices in the realm of sales tax by implementing penalties for the unauthorized issuance of sales tax invoices.
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Penalty for non issuance of sales tax invoice
Section 33(2) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 has imposed a penalty on taxpayers for non issuance of sales tax invoice to buyers of goods or services.
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Penalty for failure in filing sales tax return
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has introduced penalty for failure to file sales tax returns within the stipulated timeframe under Section 33(1) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
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Weekly Review: Saudi support may keep market positive
KARACHI: The stock market is likely to stay positive during next week owing to the expected transfer of $3 billion from Saudi Arabia.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to show positivity in the upcoming week is attributable to support from Saudi Arabia in terms of safe deposits of $3 billion in the upcoming week which will release pressure off of foreign exchange reserves, the slowdown in international oil prices which will alleviate inflationary pressure, and end of roll-over week.
However, the last date of MSCI rebalancing on November 30, 2021 might trigger foreign selling, current macro-economic concerns like rising imports, higher inflationary reading due to increasing prices of commodities, and pressure on currency could keep the market range-bound.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 4.5x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 15.0x while offering a dividend yield of 8.5 per cent versus 2.2 per cent offered by the region.
This week trading activity remained chaotic and gloomy with 2,375 points (5.11 per cent WoW; Highest weekly decline after 27th Mar’20) being eroded from the KSE-100 index which closed at 44,114 points this week.
The decline is attributable to i) State Bank of Pakistan increasing policy rate by 150 basis points to 8.75 per cent, ii) alarming current account deficit which increased to USD 5.1 billion in 4MFY21, iii) beginning of the roll-over week, iv) net selling from foreigners amid a transition from Emerging Market to the Frontier Market and v) decline in foreign exchange reserves putting pressure on PKR parity. Moreover, the announcement of a staff-level agreement with IMF failed to rejuvenate investors’ sentiments. Albeit, the index rebounded amid i) end of petroleum dealers strike post agreement with the government to increase margins, ii) news of Saudi inflow of USD 3bn expected next week, and iii) nosedive in international oil prices which might be a breather for the economy.
Contribution to the downside was led by i) Cements (462 points), ii) Commercial Banks (326 points), iii) Technology and Communication (290 points), iv) Fertilizer (270 points), and v) Oil & Gas Exploration (252 points). Scrip-wise major losers were LUCK (205 points), TRG (177 points), HBL (114 points), PPL (98 points), and ENGRO (95 points).
Foreigners offloaded stocks worth of USD 39.1 million compared to a net sell of USD 25.0 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 15.7 million) and Fertilizer (USD 6.3 million). On the local front, buying was reported by Individuals (USD 16.0 million) followed by Companies (USD 13.3 million). That said, average daily volumes and traded value for the outgoing week were up by 8 per cent and 13 per cent to 264 million shares and USD 60 million, respectively.
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Tarin launches first professional clearing member
KARACHI: Shaukat Tarin, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, on Friday inaugurated the first Professional Clearing Member (PCM) at CDC House, Karachi.
Speaking at the occasion, Shaukat Tarin said: “It is the top priority of our Government to facilitate businesses and improve ease of doing business environment.
“This initiative of Professional Clearing Member (PCM) is a very significant and timely initiative by SECP and very well executed by CDC. It is very important for our Capital market that we introduce such novel concepts which will bring more transparency and efficiency in our market.
“CDC has won the trust and confidence of the investors, Regulator and all stakeholders in the market with its efforts of market development and investor facilitation.
“The new PCM regime has been successfully implemented after the introduction of the relevant regulatory framework by SECP and capital market infrastructure entities, leading to the launch of EClear Services Limited (ESL) by i.e. CDC, PSX, NCCPL and Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company, with CDC playing the lead role of the project manager.”
Speaking at the occasion, the SECP Chairman, Aamir Khan said that “The PCM regime shall address two longstanding issues: risk of custody defaults by transferring custody to the PCM, and expanding the retail investor base by empowering small brokers.”
Tariq Rafi, member of CDC’s Board of Directors, welcomed Tarin and others guests after which Chairman CDC Moin Fudda addressed the audience. CEO CDC Badiuddin Akber presented a brief presentation to the audience explaining the working and benefits of the Professional Clearing Member.
He mentioned: “The solution will provide investors with a completely new and digital experience of Pakistan’s capital market while giving them the confidence of asset protection by a reliable and independent third party service provider.”
The event was well attended by Capital market representatives including Chairperson PSX – Dr. Shamshad Akhtar and CEO PSX – Farrukh Khan.
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foodpanda demonstrates Pandafly drone at Dubai Expo
KARACHI: foodpanda has exhibited Pandafly drone at the Pakistan Pavilion in Dubai expo. foodpanda Pakistan’s leading food delivery company and is also the largest e-commerce platform.
The event is a testament to foodpanda’s commitment to grow and innovate through adoption of disruptive technology, as well as showcase the tremendous support and an enabling environment offered by the Government of Pakistan for continued growth and investment in the technology sector.
The use of these disruptive technologies by foodpanda, and other companies, in the future will mean faster deliveries over longer distances. Further customers living in peri-urban and remote areas will especially benefit through enhanced choice and competitive pricing.
Speaking at the event in Dubai, Nauman Sikandar Mirza, CEO of foodpanda stated: “We are very excited to be present at the Pakistan Pavilion to showcase our state of the art drone for food delivery.
“The support from the Government of Pakistan has been tremendous and our presence at this event has shown it to the world that Pakistan is open to testing innovative technologies and encourage investment in the technology and e-commerce sector.”
Hassan Afzal Khan, Pakistan’s Consul General in Dubai was also present at the event. Expressing his views, he said, “E-commerce and the use of technology to serve the citizens is definitely the future.
foodpanda’s use of innovative technologies for food delivery is highly impressive, and featuring it at the Dubai Expo was indeed a great idea. We wish foodpanda all the best in now turning this pilot project into a regular operational service.”
Also present at the event was Dr. Erfa Iqbal, Chairperson Punjab Board of Investment and Trade. While sharing her thoughts she said, “I am delighted to see that through e-commerce we are able to increase the overall economic activity and bring in financial inclusion, economic empowerment and socioeconomic uplift of the country and foodpanda is at the forefront of it. With this disruptive technology we are paving way for deliveries of the future where speed and convenience of customers are ranked at the highest level. As a country we still have a long way to go and thus, we need to keep on advancing on our efforts to create favorable business environment and make such technological revolution possible.”
The event was also attended by dignitaries, representatives of the media, corporate stakeholders from the MENA region, some celebrities and social media influencers.
Earlier in November, foodpanda launched the successful pilot project to test food delivery through Pandafly, the customized drone. Carried out in association with the Government, using a first of its kind drone built locally for commercial purposes in partnership with Woot Technology, the test flight took place in the F-9 Park Islamabad.
A food package weighing approximately 2.5 kgs was flown over 500m by the drone – with first and last mile of the delivery conducted by foodpanda’s very own riders.
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Bulls return to stock market ending 4-day losing streak
KARACHI: Bulls return to the stock market which gained 178 points on Friday ending a 4-day losing streak. The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 44,114 points against 43,936 points showing an increase of 178.4 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the battle between bulls and bears was conquered by the bulls in the last trading hour.
The market opened with positive momentum as investors perceived that the last leg of the foreign selling spree was completed on the last trading day.
The forecast of investors failed as foreign selling continued and led the market back to red territory.
Activity continued to remain side-ways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks.
On the flip-side, In the second session, institutional buyers started fetching value stocks due to attractive multiples which led the market to close in the green zone.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Commercial Banks (+74 points), Power (+53 points), Fertilizer (+48 points), Cement (+34 points), and Pharmaceuticals (+15 points).
Volumes increased from 195.2 million shares to 289.8 million shares (+48.5 per cent DoD). Traded value also increased by 22.4 per cent to reach US$ 58.5 million as against US$ 47.8 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TPLP, BYCO, HUMNL and MODAMR.