Pkrevenue.com

Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz

  • Provinces collect Rs7.03 billion as property tax

    Provinces collect Rs7.03 billion as property tax

    ISLAMABAD: The province have collected Rs7.03 billion as property tax during fiscal year 2018/2019 as compared with Rs5.55 billion in the preceding fiscal year, showing growth of 26.57 percent, according to details issued by the federal finance ministry.

    The collection of property tax is provincial jurisdiction and the provinces collected the tax on rental of immovable property. The sources said that the increase in tax revenue under this head was due to revision in valuation of rents on immovable properties by the provinces.

    The break-up shows that the province of Punjab collected Rs2.816 billion as property tax during fiscal year 2018/2019, which is 23.6 percent higher when compared with Rs2.278 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

    Sindh collected Rs2.85 billion as property tax during the last fiscal year, showing 41.2 percent growth when compared with collection of Rs2.016 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also collected Rs1.15 billion during the fiscal year 2018/2019 as compared with Rs1.13 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

    Baluchistan collected property tax to the tune of Rs213 million in the last fiscal year as compared with Rs122 million in the preceding fiscal year.

  • Hascol Petroleum gets license for lube oil blending plant operation

    Hascol Petroleum gets license for lube oil blending plant operation

    KARACHI: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has granted license to Hascol Lubricants (Private) Limited to start commercial operations of the lube oil blending plant located at Port Qasim Authority, company official said on Wednesday.

    Hascol Lubricants (Private) Limited is the wholly owned subsidiary of Hascol Petroleum Limited.

    The company said that the blending plant is built on a state of the art technology with a capacity of 40,000 Metric Ton per annum.

    The blending plant is powered by ABB Blending System (French origin) which is considered as one of the best in the world along with the Comaco Filing Machines (Italian Origin), said a company notice sent to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

    The blending plant is also equipped with a laboratory of superior technology, capable of performing test of lubricants against international standards.

    “The company expects that the commencement of the commercial operations of the blending plant will have a positive financial impact on its profitability and will also improve the existing volumes of the company’s lubricants business.”

  • FBR detects huge gap in indirect revenue collection; launches sales tax, federal excise monitoring

    FBR detects huge gap in indirect revenue collection; launches sales tax, federal excise monitoring

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched monitoring of sales tax and federal excise duty following huge gap detected in indirect revenue collection.

    “There appear to be a big gap between actual collection of sales tax / federal excise and its true potential,” the FBR said in a communication sent to all Chief Commissioners of Inland Revenue.

    The FBR said that in order to bridge the gap numerous amendments were made in Sales Tax Act, 1990 and Federal Excise Act, 2005 through Finance Act, 2019.

    Now administrative measures are required to be strengthened / implement the policy corrections/

    The FBR directed the field formations to adopt the following steps in addition to their regular actions:

    01. Immediate action on non-files of July and August 2019, especially where the registered persons have filed their sales tax returns for the tax periods of May and June 2019. In addition, desk audit of the registered persons who filed returns for the month of July and August 2019 to be conducted especially those who were previously included in five reduced / zero rated sectors.

    02. Monitoring of registered persons paying sales tax under Eighth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 especially in those cases where registered persons are supplying at reduced rate.

    03. Sectoral analysis/reports must be made by the field formations having jurisdiction over a specific sector, and these reports should be shared with the FBR as well as other field formations having jurisdiction over same sectors. Any success stories be identified.

    04. The registered persons dealing in third schedule items should be specifically monitored to ensure the sales tax is being paid on the retail price.

    05. Printing of retail price has to be ensured and price lists of all such products have to be obtained from the manufactured/importers filing in Third Schedule to compared with the printed prices of products supplied in market.

    06. Monitoring of stock position as on June 30, 2019 filed by the manufacturers/importers of goods which have been included in Third Schedule to ensure that supply is made and tax is charged on retail price.

    07. Timely filing of sales tax/federal excise returns along with all the annexure should be ensured. It has been observed that the registered persons do intentionally skip some annexures while filing the returns.

    08. Analysis of Annexure J showing the sale, production and stock must be at regular basis.

    09. Special focus should be made on those cases which have piled up massive carry forward and are only paying sales tax under Section 8B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.

    10. FBR instructions / SOP for revision of the Sales Tax Returns should be followed in letter and spirit.

  • KCCI’s president, other office bearers elected unopposed

    KCCI’s president, other office bearers elected unopposed

    KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) notified on Tuesday that all three candidates for the post of Office bearers from Businessmen Group (BMG) namely Agha Shahab Khan, Arshad Islam and Shahid Ismail have been elected unopposed as President, Senior Vice President and Vice President respectively for the year 2019-2020.

    Expressing gratitude to Almighty Allah, Chairman BMG and Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam thanked the Business & Industrial community of Karachi for reposing confidence and trust on BMG’s policies.

    Siraj Teli said, “By the grace of Almighty Allah, BMG has been winning all the elections without losing a single seat for the last 22 years and after terribly defeating the opponents in last year’s election with double the votes, BMGIANs have been blessed with yet another unopposed victory.”

    He said that 22 years of success is an acknowledgement of the public service by the Businessmen Group which also testifies that overwhelming majority of Business & Industrial Community endorses the policies of BMG because they understand and believe that BMGians are serving them selflessly for their betterment.

    BMG Chairman hoped that the newly elected BMGians will make all out efforts in espousing the cause of Business & Industrial Community and to further enhance the status of public service which is the motto of BMG.

    As the Office Bearers have been elected unopposed, hence the Managing Committee meeting to elect the Office Bearers will not be held on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

    The final results of the elections of members of Executive Committee and Office Bearers shall be officially announced at Annual General Meeting on Saturday, September 28, 2019 in which the outgoing office bearers will formally hand over the charge to incoming Office Bearers for the year 2019-20.

  • Complete record of destruction of banknotes available: SBP

    Complete record of destruction of banknotes available: SBP

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday said it has all the records related to destructed old design Rs500 banknotes. The central bank also denied media report about record missing of such banknotes.

    In a statement, the SBP said that apropos news item appearing in a section of media regarding unavailability of record pertaining to destruction of old design Rs.500 banknotes.

    “The SBP categorically denies and rejects the media reports regarding unavailability of the record of old design Rs.500 banknotes demonetized in Oct 2012.”

    The destruction of banknotes is an ongoing activity and is carried out across the country at field offices of SBPBSC, the record for the same is available in respective field offices.

    “The Audit team however, just visited SBPBSC Karachi and assumed that the record available at Karachi is the total record available with the SBP, which is factually incorrect,” the SBP said.

    “The complete record of banknote’s destruction is available at SBPBSC field offices located in 16 cities across the country,” it added.

  • Hajj, Umrah: Saudi Arabia advises biometric confirmation locally

    Hajj, Umrah: Saudi Arabia advises biometric confirmation locally

    KARACHI: The ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia has issued instructions for pilgrims in countries with Biometric enrollment centres for Hajj & Umrah must consider completing the mandatory biometric registration locally after obtaining Hajj or Umrah visa.

    The ministry said that registering biometric information before arriving at the entry ports of the Kingdom is recommended to save waiting time at the airports and to facilitate a smooth entrance to KSA.

    Reportedly, hundreds of visitors to the country were rejected recently an entry and sent back from the airport due to not following the correct visa procedures.

    To avoid such unfortunate incidents, pilgrims must apply the right category of visa through the travel agents registered with the country’s Hajj and Umrah Committees.

    It is important to note that the newly introduced tourist e-visa cannot be used to enter the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj or Umrah. It only allows tourist to attend concerts and sporting events happening in the Kingdom.

    Without the right visa and documentations, pilgrims will encounter fines and/or deportation to the home country.

    Saudi officials said that is mandatory to provide biometric information to enter Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    Pilgrims face a risk of deportation if proper visa procedures are not followed. Once entire visa formality is completed including enrollment of biometric information, pilgrims can travel with a peace of mind fully focusing on the holy journey ahead of them.

    It takes about 10 minutes to register biometrics at the local visa service center with a pre-booked appointment, whereas the time spent at the airport upon arrival may be longer depending on the long queues at the airports.

    Once the biometric collection is completed in the country of origin, pilgrims will only be required to clear customs and have their passports stamped at the immigration upon entering Saudi Arabia.

    Biometrics in the country of origin are only collected by the visa service center authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, using a secure and quick process that captures a facial image with a digital camera and a 10-digit fingerprint scan with a digital finger scanner.

    Biometric enrollment can be completed locally before travelling, or upon arrival at the King Abdulaziz International Airport or at the Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport.

  • FPCCI recommends dedicated accounts to stop fraud in sales tax refunds

    FPCCI recommends dedicated accounts to stop fraud in sales tax refunds

    KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has recommended dedicated accounts for prevent fraud in sales tax refunds.

    Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai, President, FPCCI while commenting on SRO 981(I)/2019 of dated August 07, 2019 with special reference to Chapter V-A said that there is need of dedicated Head of Accounts sector-wise for creating transparency.

    He further stated though Rs22 Billion have been released to exporters against RPOs issued as of August 31, 2019 but new RPOs have been stopped which creating shortage of liquidity crunch.

    The new refund system promised to issue refund within 72 hours still not implemented under new rules that have some lacunas.

    The new refund rules which are not very clear and has many lacunas and refunds promised to exporters within 72 Hours still not implemented.

    The exporters are confused as the new system does not release pending refunds since 2008.

    The new system is full of Errors and the Exporters are facing lot of issues and they cannot file the returns of Refunds.

    Unless the new system is perfectly tested it should not be applied.

    FBR has already collected approximately Rs.48 Billion (on the basis of last year data as current year data still not available) for textile exporters. In the month of July nothing has been refunded.

    The exporters should be informed how much amount of Sales Tax refund is outstanding as of August 31, 2019.

    Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai urged FBR to take remedial measure immediately to solve exporters problems.

  • Stock market gains 78 points in narrow band trade

    Stock market gains 78 points in narrow band trade

    KARACHI: The stock market gained 78 points on Tuesday as benchmark index was remained traded in a narrow band.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 31,829 points as against 31,751 points showing an increase of 78 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib said that the KSE-100 index continued trading in a narrow band with limited upside.

    The index plunged by 315 points during the session and recovered +141 points later on.

    Selling pressure was mostly observed in Cement, Banks and Oil & Gas scrips. Cement sector led the volumes with 25.6 million shares, out of which MLCF realized 17.6 million shares, followed by FCCL (2.9 million)

    Banking sector followed Cement with 8 million shares, which was mainly contributed by UBL, BAFL and BOP. Power sector ranked third among top volume leaders, registering trade volume of 7.6 million shares, mostly contributed by KEL (4.6 million) and HUBC (2 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-40 points), E&P (+33 points), Chemical (+19 points), O&GMCs (+17 points), and Food (+10 points).

    Volumes inched up from 86.6 million shares to 88.7 million shares (+2 percent DoD). Average traded value also posted a slight increase from US$ 24.8 million to US$ 24.9 million (+0.3 percent DoD).

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, KEL, FCCL, PAEL and DGKC, which formed 34 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+23 points), COLG (+13 points), PSO (+13 points), BAHL (+12 points) and LUCK (+10 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (-15 points), UBL (-15 points), HBL (-14 points), MEBL (-10 points), and HUBC (-10 points).

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  • Rupee gains one paisa amid dollar demand for import payment

    Rupee gains one paisa amid dollar demand for import payment

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained one paisa against dollar on Tuesday amid demand for import and corporate payments.

    The rupee ended Rs156.16 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs156.17 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency dealers said that the supply of remittances and export receipts helped the rupee to gain earlier in the day. However, the local unit lost the gains due demand from import and corporate payments.

    The foreign currency market was opened in the range of Rs156.12 and Rs156.17. The market recorded day high of Rs156.20 and low of Rs156.10 and closed at Rs156.16.

    The exchange rate in open market however witnessed appreciation in local currency. The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs155.70/Rs156.20 from previous day’s closing of Rs155.80/Rs156.30 in cash ready market.

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  • Pakistan imports mobile phones worth Rs26 billion; up 52.4pc in July – August

    Pakistan imports mobile phones worth Rs26 billion; up 52.4pc in July – August

    KARACHI: Pakistan has imported mobile phones worth Rs26 billion during first two months of current fiscal year, which is 52.4 percent higher when compared with Rs16.98 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

    The higher import of mobile phones can be attributed to massive depreciation of Pak Rupee during the comparative year and deterrence created against smuggled mobile phones.

    According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) that rupee value converted into US Dollar on average monthly exchange rate provided by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

    The PBS said that the exchange rate for import value has been applied as: August 2019 (1$=RS.158.077024 ), July 2019 (1$=Rs.158.829694) and August 2018 (1$=Rs.123.789583).

    On the other hand the mandatory registration through system introduced by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) also discouraged the influx of smuggle phones and resulted in high number of clearance through legal channels.

    The PBS said that in terms of dollar the import of mobile phones registered 19.4 percent growth during the period under review.

    The import of mobile phones was $163.484 million during July – August 2019 as compared with $136.91 million in the corresponding period of the last year.

    The country imported mobile phones worth Rs13.47 billion in the month of August 2019, which is 61 percent higher when compared with Rs8.37 billion in the same month of last year.

    The latest figures of August 2019 are also 8.38 percent higher when compared with Rs12.43 billion in July 2019.

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