According to information received on Saturday, Pakistan Customs has proposed amendments to Customs Rules, 2001 related to imports.
It is proposed that it would be made mandatory for shipments originating from Iran and Afghanistan and arriving through land customs-station, the certificate of origin issued by the relevant Iranian Government agency and by Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry respectively.
For shipments originating from UAE and China (excluding imports under PTA and FTA regime) certificate of origin shall be uploaded for shipments of fabric (all types i.e. finished, unfinished and grey etc.) and artificial jewellery originating from UAE and China (excluding import under PTA and FTA regime) certificate of origin issued by the manufacturer.
It will be made mandatory for the importer, in terms of clause (aa) of section 79 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969) to upload following documents with every declaration in relation to each consignments, namely:-
— master bill of lading and house bill of lading or master airway bill and house airway bill as the case may be;
— commercial invoice;
— letter of credit or bank contract;
— packing list — container-wise in case of containerized cargo and package wise in case of miscellaneous goods consignments;
— previous chemical analysis and lab test report, if any;
— mill test certificate issued by the manufacturer in case of prime quality steel product;
— certification as per requirement of Import Policy Order;
— PTA or FTA certificate of origin, if claimed;
— and any other documents or requirements specified by the Board from time to time.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday reduced rate of sales tax on supply of petrol (Motor Spirit).
The revenue body issued SRO 1072(I)/2021 to make change in sales tax rate on supply of petrol.
According to the notification the sales tax rate on supply of petrol has been reduced to 10.54 per cent. The FBR brought down the sales tax rate from 10.77 per cent. Previously, the revenue body notified the sales tax rate on petroleum products through SRO 937(I)/2021 dated July 26, 2021.
The uniform rate of sales tax is 17 per cent. However, the government has reduced the rate of sales tax on various petroleum products in order provide relief to the masses.
Despite providing relief to general public through reduced rate of sales tax, the government increased the prices of various petroleum products with effect from August 16, 2021.
The prices of kerosene oil have been increased by Rs0.81 per liter, from Rs87.49 to Rs 88.30.
Likewise, the prices of Light Diesel Oil (LDO) have been increased by Rs1.10 per liter from Rs84.67 to Rs85.77.
However, the government kept prices of petrol and diesel unchanged with effective form August 16 for next fortnight.
According to the latest notification, the FBR has kept sales tax rates at reduced level for other petroleum products. However, sales tax rate on high speed diesel is remained at 17 per cent.
The sales tax rate on supply of kerosene oil is 6.70 per cent and on supply of light diesel oil is 0.20 per cent.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that his government has put the economy on right track despite various challenges, including COVID-19.
Presenting three years performance of Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf (PTI) government, the prime minister said during the last three years, the current account deficit has been significantly reduced from $20 billion in 2018 to $1.8 billion, foreign exchange reserves increased from $16.4 billion to $27 billion, revenue collection from Rs 3800 billion to Rs. 4700 billion, workers’ remittances from $19.9 billion to $ 29.4 billion.
Imran said that when the present government took reign of affairs in 2018, the country with the highest ever $20 billion of current account deficit was close to default and rupee was depreciating.
“If the friendly countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE and China did not help Pakistan, rupee in the country would have further depreciated,” he added.
The Prime Minister also mentioned 18 per cent growth in the Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector as well as 42 per cent increase in cement sale during the previous fiscal and said it showed enhanced industrial activity.
He said that the receipt of an additional income of Rs 1100 billion by the farmers in agriculture sector and the historic sales of motorbikes, cars and tractors during the previous fiscal also depicted prosperity in rural areas.
The Prime Minister said that the government’s successful strategy to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic also led to saving the economy and poor masses, adding, the international institutions including the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization appreciated Pakistan’s strategy on COVID-19.
He said that despite the criticism by opposition parties, the government did not go for complete lockdown of the economy, which, if opted, would have caused increase in poverty and hunger like in India.
The Prime Minister appreciated the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) for its timely and effective decisions to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister said his message to the youth was to follow the sublime path, set by Allah Almighty and Last Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “We have to learn from the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).”
He said sports did inspire him to never give up and keep on striving and cited the example of Quaid-e-Azam who strove for a great cause and succeeded in creating Pakistan.
He said due to economic mismanagement of the past, the people had to endure price hike and inflation and the government had to take loans from International Monetary Fund (IMF) on stringent conditionalities.
He thanked Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force for countering aggression of India after the Pulwama incident and said there was no reason to have critical views about national institutions.
He said the PTI government was fully committed to its three guiding principles of humanity, rule of law and self-respect.
He said no country could progress if there was no of rule of law. He recalled that Asif Ali Zardari landed in jail because of his corrupt practices whenever the PPP government was ousted in the past.
He said the countries got weakened when the ministers indulged in corruption and cited the Holy Prophet’s system of justice of the Riyasat-e-Madinah.
He referred to a UN report which pointed out that $1000 billion was being transferred from developing countries to the developed ones every year which resulted in a widening gap between the rich and the poor.
According to another report, $10 billion was sent from Pakistan every year to bank accounts abroad to purchase properties there, he added.
He said the anti-corruption department of Punjab had recovered only Rs 2.5 billion during the regime of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz while in the tenure of present government, its recoveries stood at Rs 450 billion. Similarly, the recoveries of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) rose to Rs 519 billion in the last three years from Rs 290 billion in 18 years, he added.
Imran Khan said for the first time, the PTI government launched Ehsaas programme and enhanced the social sector allocation from Rs 110 billion to Rs 260 billion.
The World Bank declared Pakistan’s Ehsaas programme as the third best in the world, he said and added the programme played a vital role in taking care of the poor during the coronavirus pandemic.
Additional funds were allocated for scholarships of girls as compared to the funds for boys, the PM said and added the government empowered women with renewed focus on their education.
He said the government took steps to fully facilitate women in getting succession certificates and share of inheritance.
Under the Kamyab Naujwan Programme, he said, youth of four million poor families would be given interest-free loans, health insurance cards, and skills training.
Easy interest-free loans were given so that low income groups could build affordable houses, he said, adding 30 percent of the country’s population consisted of the youth.
Imran Khan said farmers would be given subsidy through Kisaan Card so that they could buy fertilizers, pesticides and other agriculture inputs.
Ten reservoirs including Mohmand and Dassu dams would be built to meet water requirements, he added.
He said uniform curriculum would be introduced and Seerat-e-Nabi courses would be taught in classes from eight to ten.
Expressing concern over the rising crimes against women and children, he underlined the need for character building of the youth with imbibing moral values.
He told the audience about Rs1300 billion special packages for merged tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and districts of Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan to eliminate backwardness and deprivation of local people.
The Prime Minister said the past leaderships did compromise dignity of the country by begging and getting loans from other states. Pakistan could make rapid progress by developing its agriculture, industry, mining, tourism and banking sectors, he opined.
He said today business confidence had markedly improved in the country while foreign remittances were on the rise.
He recalled Pakistan sided with the United States in the war on terror but latter carried out 480 drone attacks on its soil.
Over 70,000 Pakistanis lost their lives in the war fought on behalf of another country, he added.
The Prime Minister said the Afghan defence forces declined to fight for their corrupt leaders.
He called upon the world to support the Taliban as they wanted an inclusive government in Afghanistan, and declared general amnesty for all, besides assurance that no one would be allowed to carry out terrorist attacks from their soil against other countries.
He said the world community should help the Taliban to maintain peace in Afghanistan.
Imran Khan recalled that Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, folk singer Attaullah Khan Esakhailvi, Ibrarul Haq and many others played an important role in taking forward Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
He thanked the allies including Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Grand Democratic Alliance for extending support to the PTI government during the last three years.
ISLAMABAD: The Korean EXIM Bank will sign a new framework arrangement with Pakistan (2022-2026) for enhancing financing to $1 billion.
A high-level Korean Delegation, led by Chong Hwa Lee, Director General, Ministry of Economy & Finance, Republic of Korea called on the Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan in his office during their 2-days visit to Islamabad.
The Korean delegation informed that EXIM Bank would soon sign a new Framework Arrangement with Pakistan (2022-26) for enhancing existing level of financing from $ 500 million to $ 1 billion for implementing new projects in road sector, climate change, healthcare and IT Sector development.
H.E. Suh Sangpyo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Islamabad and representatives of Korean EXIM Bank also participated in the meeting.
The Minister for Economic Affairs appreciated the role played by EXIM Bank for financing various development projects in Pakistan. The Minister expressed that Pakistan desired to implement more development projects in IT, social sector and infrastructure under Korean financing facilities.
“The mobilization of financial resources from the Exim Bank would contribute in social and economic development of Pakistan”, the minister added.
At present, five development projects i.e. Technology Park in Islamabad, Kalkatak-Chitral Road, Chakdara-Timergara Road, Malakand Tunnel and Children Hospital in Sukkar are under implementation with US$ 343 million financing by EDFC/EXIM Bank of Korea.
The Minister for Economic Affairs appreciated the Korean government for their enhanced support for various development projects and disaster management including combating COVID-19 pandemic and locust in Pakistan.
On the sidelines of meeting, a loan agreement for establishment of IT Park in Karachi was also signed.
The total cost of project is around US$199 million. Out of which, the EXIM Bank Korea will provide US$158 million.
This project is aimed at providing IT enabled high tech infrastructure wherein IT companies can work together by leveraging each other’s expertise, foster industry-academia cooperation and promote entrepreneurship in Pakistan.
The IT Park will provide state-of-the-art modern infrastructure to national and international IT firms for establishing their office in Karachi.
The financing agreement was signed by Zulfiqar Haider, Secretary, EAD and Chong Hwa Lee, Director General, Korea.
During this visit, both sides also held Policy Dialogue under EDCF Framework in Economic Affairs Division. Mr. Zulfiqar Haider, Secretary EAD welcomed the delegation and expressed that Government of Pakistan attached great importance for its relations with Republic of Korea and appreciated the efforts made by Korean Exim Bank for financing potential projects in healthcare, road infrastructure development, IT Sector and mitigating climate change.
Both side discussed future roadmap for mobilizing financing for potential projects and ways for expediting implementation of projects.
Chong Hwa Lee, Director General, Ministry of Economy & Finance of Korea thanked Pakistani-side for their hospitality and informed that Government of Republic of Korea would continue its endeavors for mobilizing financial & technical resources for development projects in Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday emphasized the importance of building strategic reserves of commodities in wake of evolving situation in Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD: Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, a BS-21 officer of Inland Revenue Service (IRS) has assumed the charge of the post of chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Dr. Ashfaq has replaced Asim Ahmed, who was removed from the post a day earlier.
KARACHI: Bank Alfalah Limited on Wednesday announced 21 per cent growth in earnings for the half year ended June 30, 2021.
The net profit of the bank was at Rs7.02 billion for the first half as compared with net profit of Rs5.78 billion in the same half of the last year.
The bank declared Rs3.94 as earnings per share (EPS) for the first half of 2021 as compared with the EPS of Rs3.25 in the same half of the last year.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that massive reductions in provisioning and quarterly rise in interest earned contributed to the profitability during the quarter.
Net Interest Income of the bank settled at PKR 21.9 billion, decreasing 6 per cent YoY during 1HCY21 while rising 13 per cent QoQ. This quarterly growth could be attributed to volumetric growth.
NFI increased 15 per cent YoY mainly on the back of Fee income which rose by 35 per cent YoY and Dividend income which increased by 79 per cent YoY. Quarterly jump was on account of 12 per cent jump in fee income and 50 per cent uptick in FX/derivatives income.
Provisioning expenses for the bank came in at PKR 934 million during 2QCY21 taking total provisioning expenses to PKR 1.15bn during 1HCY21. Overall there has been a 76 per cent YoY reduction in provisioning, which could be due to improved outlook on the asset quality following the rebound in economic activity across the country leading to reversal in general provisioning. However this quarter saw a 4x jump QoQ which was on account of a provisioning charge against an Oil Marketing Company’s exposure as per management.
Operating expenses rose 11 per cent YoY taking CIR to 58 per cent for 1HCY21 against 52 per cent same period last year (SPLY).
Effective tax rate clocked in at 39 per cent for 1HCY21 vis-à-vis 42 per cent SPLY.
The FBR issued SRO 1063(I)/2021 to amend Sales Tax Rules, 2006. Through the rules, the FBR established IREN and authorized the body to check and verify any of the eventualities.
Besides, the FBR also issued a procedure for companies installing Point of Sales (POSs) at the outlets of Tier-1 retailers.
Following is the text of rules issued by the FBR:
CHAPTER XIV-BB
INTEGRATION OF TIER-I RETAILERS AND LICENSING THEREOF
150ZQZH. Licensing.— (1) No person shall carry out integration of the retailers through software unless he has obtained a licence under these rules.
(2) No licensee under these rules shall maintain or operate system or provide any other service, which is not authorized under these rules.
(3) Every payment counter whether fixed or portable and generates invoices for receipt of payment either in cash or through debit or credit card shall be connected as per rule 150ZEB.
(4) Every licensee shall be bound to integrate the payment counter in the manner as prescribed under sub rule (4), (5),(16) and (17) of rule 150ZEB.
150ZQZI. Functions of the licensing committee.— (1) The licensing committee shall function in accordance with the provisions of these rules or any other instructions, procedures, issued by the Board.
(2) Project Director Retail Monitoring Cell shall be the convener of the licensing committee located at FBR House, Islamabad. The Board shall provide secretarial and other allied support for functioning of the licensing committee.
150ZQZJ. Application for grant of licence.— (1) An application for installation, configuration and integration of point of sale (POS) machine shall be made in duplicate to the Board.
(2) No application under sub-rule (1) shall be considered, unless it is accompanied by —
(I) registration certificate issued by Pakistan Software Houses Association or Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan;
(ii) audited statement of accounts for the last three financial years;
(iii) list of major clientele;
(iv) incorporation certificate under the Companies Act;
(v) National Tax Number (NTN) Certificate;
(vi) the paid up capital for the latest financial year is at least Rs.100 million or above;
(vii) registration with Sales Tax Department if required;
(viii) Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) of directors of the incorporated company;
(ix) undertaking that the company has never been blacklisted by any Government or Provincial department or organization and has not been involved in confirmed cases of fiscal fraud;
(x) list of projects executed in the last three years;
(xi) and any other documents required through instructions orders issued by the Board.
150ZQZK. Procedure for grant of licence.— (1) On receipt of application for grant of licence in the Board, the licensing committee shall scrutinize the document provided and it shall evaluate the eligibility of the applicant within seven days of receipt of application.
(2) The licensing committee may also carry out visits, if necessary for physical inspection to ascertain the eligibility of the applicant for licensing under these rules.
(3) The licensing committee shall send its recommendations to the Member (IR — Operations) and the Director General Retail within ten days of date of submission of the application, specifying reasons for recommending or rejection of any application under these rules.
(4) In case, the companies meet the criteria under these rules, the licensing committee shall make recommendations for grant of licences.
(5) The licensing committee shall grant the licence to the recommended companies with the prior approval of Member (IR — Operations) and Director General Retail.
150ZQZL. Right granted to the licensee.— (1) A licensee shall have the right to install, configure, integrate, operate and maintain the point of sale on real time basis in accordance with conditions of the licence issued to him.
(2)The licence granted under these rules shall be subject to provisions of the Act and shall be valid for five years from date of issuance.
(3) The licence granted under these rules shall be non-transferable and shall not be allowed to be use by any sub-contractor.
150ZQZM. Renewal of licence.— (1) The application for renewal of licence shall be made to the Board three months before its expiry.
(2) The licensing committee shall evaluate the application and make recommendations to the Member (IR — Operations) and Director General Retail for renewal of licence.
(3) The licensee shall be required to comply with all the provisions of these rules for the renewal period.
150ZQZN. Technical support.— (1)The licensee shall be responsible for post deployment maintenance of Point of Sale as detailed below:
(a) setting up and maintenance of all information technology equipment connected to point of sales; and
(b) the licensee shall be authorized to,
(i) upgrade of the system hardware and software;
(ii) all bug fixes; and
(iii) immediate response to troubleshooting of any post deployment problems for uninterrupted working of the system.
(2) The licensee shall be responsible for safe and secure capture of real-time transmission of sales data from the retails outlet to FBR database at all times.
150ZQZ0. Responsibilities of the Project Director.— The Project Director shall be responsible for overall supervision of the system and the steps taken to address problems encountered during the operation of the systems.
150ZQZP. Procedure for cancellation or termination of licence.— (1) The Project Director shall immediately refer the matter to the licensing committee for further action under these rules, if he, as a result of supervision of the system or on receipt of a report from any of the Commissioners Inland Revenue or on a valid complaint, has reasons to believe that the licensee has-
(a) failed to provide the required services to the satisfaction of the Board authorities;
(b) contravened any condition of the licence;
(c) contravened any provision of these rules or the Act; or
(d) violated any applicable law while carrying out activities of licence under these rules.
(2) On receipt of reference from the Project Director under sub-rule (1), the licensing committee shall cause to serve a notice upon the licensee within fifteen days of receipt of reference, to show cause within thirty days after the date of the notice, as to why the licence issued under these rules should not be cancelled or terminated:
Provided that in cases where the Licensing, on the basis of material evidence, is of the opinion that there exits Prima facie a sufficient case against the licensee, it may suspend the licence to safeguard public finances and to prevent any other serious damage.
(3) The licensing committee may, after giving the licensee adequate opportunity of being heard and after examination of the record, cancel or terminate the licence issued under these rules.
(4) In case of cancellation of licence under these rules, the affected person or company shall have the right to file representation against the order of the licensing committee before the Board.
(5) The Board shall decide the representation after giving proper opportunity of being heard and the decision of the Board shall be final.
150ZQZQ. Fee and Charges.— (1) The licensee shall charge the fee for configuration and integration of point of sales from the retailers.
(2) No fee shall be charged from any of the field formation of the Board.
150ZQZR. Responsibilities of the Tier-I retailers.— The Tier-I retailer shall —
(a) make all payment counters comprising of point of sale at each out let, available for installation of the systems;
(b) be responsible for smooth functioning of point of sales;
(c) report to the Board and the concerned Commissioner Inland Revenue within twenty four hours of any operational failure, damage disruptions or tampering of the system; or
(d) report any inoperative point of sale to the Commissioner Inland Revenue holding the jurisdiction.
150ZQZS. Functions of Commissioner Inland Revenue.— (1) The Commissioner having jurisdiction, shall monitor proper and uninterrupted operation of the system through periodic visits by an officer of Inland Revenue authorized in this behalf.
(2) Where a Tier-I retailer does not account for sales without generating an invoice countering QR code or FBR invoice number, the Commissioner shall compute the taxes on such goods relating to unaccounted invoices, and recover the same under the relevant provisions of law.
150ZQZT. Establishment of Inland Revenue enforcement network.— The Board shall establish Inland Revenue enforcement network which shall be responsible for combating evasion and leakage of taxes payable on goods by way of co-coordinating with enforcement units of the concerned filed formations.
150ZQZU. Functioning of IR enforcement network.— To check and verify any of the eventualities, the enforcement squads of Inland Revenue shall petrol the outlets, verify the invoices and report such invoices to Commissioner Inland Revenue on which due taxes have not been paid. The Commissioner, after receipt of report from enforcement network, shall recover the tax in accordance to the provisions of the Act.
