Pkrevenue.com

Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz

  • IR offices directed to remain open, observe extended working hours on Friday, Saturday, Sunday

    IR offices directed to remain open, observe extended working hours on Friday, Saturday, Sunday

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made special arrangements on the last three days of the outgoing fiscal year to facilitate declarants of tax amnesty scheme and income tax return filers besides generating revenue by closing till June 30, 2019.

    The FBR directed all the offices of Inland Revenue to remain open and observe extended working hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (June 28, 29 & 30).

    The date for filing of income tax return is ending on June 30, 2019. Meanwhile the date for availing Asset Declaration Scheme is also June 30, 2019.

    The offices of Inland Revenue advised to observe extended working hours till 8:00 PM on Friday June 28, 2019.

    Further, they have been directed to remain open till 8:00PM on Saturday June 29, 2019 and 11:00PM on Sunday June 30, 2019.

    The FBR said that the observing extended hours and opening of offices on weekly holidays was to facilitate the taxpayers in payment of duty and taxes and filing of income tax returns and statement.

    The FBR directed Chief Commissioners of Inland Revenue to establish liaison with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and authorized branches of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to ensure transfer of tax collection by these branches on June 30, 2019 to respective branches of SBP on the same date so as to account for the same towards the collection for the month of June 2019.

  • Share market falls by another 102 points

    Share market falls by another 102 points

    KARACHI: The share market lost another 102 points on Wednesday as many scrips were remained under pressure due to gas price hike.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was closed at 34,088 points as against 34,191 points showing a decline of 102 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued the downtrend today with -459 points during the session, however, recovered by end to limit the loss to -102 points.

    Majority of the traded volume today and yesterday has been repo-reverse repo transaction, which is a highlight of June end.

    KEL topped the volumes with 30 million shares followed by BOP (9 million).

    Sector wise performance reflects Power sector leading the table with 35 million shares, followed by Banks and Cement (19 million each).

    Cement sector remained under pressure throughout the day, which was caused by a host of reasons including the recent gas tariff hike by the government.

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-79 points), O&GMCs (-25 points), Tobacco (+26 points), Power (+26 points) and Food (+17 points).

    Volumes increased from 144.9 million shares to 158.6 million shares (+9 percent DoD).

    Average traded value also increased by 18 percent to reach US$ 30 million as against US$ 25.5 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, BOP, HMB, FFBL and FCCL, which formed 34 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively include PAKT (+26 points), HUBC (+21 points), POL (+16 points), NESTLE (+11 points) and FATIMA (+9 points).

    Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-50 points), UBL (-26 points), PSO (-16 points), SEARL (-12 points) and ENGRO (-11 points).

  • Rupee hits another historic low of Rs162.17 against dollar

    Rupee hits another historic low of Rs162.17 against dollar

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee hit recorded another historic low against dollar on Wednesday by depreciating Rs5.51 in interbank foreign exchange market owing to withdrawal of high denomination prize bonds by the government.

    The rupee ended Rs162.17 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs156.99 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs157.00 and Rs158.00. The market recorded day high of Rs162.50 and low of Rs158.50 and ended at Rs162.17.

    Currency experts said that the withdrawal of Rs40,000 prize bonds put the pressure on dollar buying.

    The government has announced to withdraw the bearer bonds of Rs40,000 bonds by March 2020 and its sales through bank branches has been closed since June 24, 2019.

    The exchange rate in open market also witnessed deterioration in rupee value.

    The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs162.00/Rs163.00 from previous day’s closing of Rs156.00/Rs156.70 in cash ready market.

  • Rs260 billion to be documented through withdrawal of Rs40,000 bearer bonds in first phase

    Rs260 billion to be documented through withdrawal of Rs40,000 bearer bonds in first phase

    KARACHI: The government will document an amount of Rs260 billion in first phase by withdrawing Rs40,000 denomination bonds.

    The government has announced to stop circulation of high denomination bearer bonds in order to curb the black economy.

    Till February 2019 the central directorate of national savings issued Rs259.22 billion bonds of Rs40,000.

    On Jane 24, 2019 State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued instructions to commercial banks for not selling Rs40,000 Prize Bonds. The SBP also issued procedure for exchanging the bonds with premium bonds or documented saving certificates by March 2020.

    According to Economic Survey of Pakistan 2018-2019 the CDNS had planned to convert all bearer bonds into documented securities.

    A staggering amount of Rs939 billion has been invested in bearer bonds up to February 2019.

    Market sources said the holders of bearer bonds worth Rs40,000 were desperate to exchange and were even offering to exchange much lower rates in order to avoid questioning.

    The sources further said that many of those holders were desperate to exchange with US dollar and other foreign currencies, which put pressure on the local currency.

    The rupee hit all time low at Rs165 to a dollar in Interbank Foreign Exchange Market on Wednesday.

    On the other hand the FBR is also planning to question the persons exchanging the bearer bonds regarding source of investment.

  • Meezan Bank partners with IBM for accelerating digital transformation

    Meezan Bank partners with IBM for accelerating digital transformation

    KARACHI: Meezan Bank, leading Islamic bank, has announced its partnership with IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) Pakistan, to accelerate its digital transformation.

    The new solution shall enable real-time analysis of data and help the Bank uncover customer behavioral insights. With a network of over 676 branches in more than 180 cities in Pakistan, Meezan Bank will utilize IBM’s data analytics to improve and personalize customer experience, provide new efficiencies to the Bank’s operations and mitigate financial risks.

    Meezan Bank serves more than two million customers currently. The new partnership will enable the Bank to develop insights to improve customer acquisition, servicing as well as overall productivity.

    “Meezan Bank is acutely aware of the increasing importance of leveraging technology to deliver solutions for both customers and the Bank’s own processes. We continue to invest heavily in technology and I am confident that this Data Analytics project will be a game changer,” said Ariful Islam – Deputy CEO of Meezan Bank.

    “Technologies are disrupting our lives at an accelerated pace, and it is our endeavor to deliver as per the expectations of our customers using the tools that new technologies will give us. The future of banking depends on the speed with which we can adapt these new realities.”

    The implementation of this Data Analytics project will give Meezan Bank the ability to ingest and analyze data in real time from various sources, including social media and mobile, and in turn, uncover customer behavioral insights, such as past purchasing behaviors, and make more informed data-driven decisions.

    “Data has become the biggest differentiating factor in the constantly evolving and competitive financial services industry,” said Ghazanfar Ali – Country General Manager of IBM Pakistan.

    “Through IBM’s analytics and cognitive solutions, Meezan Bank will be able to benefit from a data driven approach to create personalized customer experiences, expand the business and drive efficiencies that will extend its leadership in the banking marketplace.”

  • Share market sheds another 281 points

    Share market sheds another 281 points

    KARACHI: The share market lost another 281 points on Tuesday owing to continued selling pressure.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,191 points as against 34,472 points showing a decline of 281 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed a relatively dull session today and continued the downside towards 487 points.

    Market made recovery a number of times during the day and the same was observed in last half hour, which saw recovery of close to 200 points at a point in time.

    Selling was observed in Cement, Banks, E&P and Autos sectors. Steel, Fertilizer and Sui Utilities remained relatively unscathed.

    Cement Sector led the volumes table with 27 million, followed by Power (23 million). KEL led the total volumes with 21 million, followed by MLCF (10 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-86 points), E&P (-43 points), Power (-31 points), Cement (-27 points) and Fertilizer (-23 points).

    Volumes increased from 78.7 million shares to 144.1 million shares (+83 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 42 percent to reach US$ 26.1 million as against US$ 18.4 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, MLCF, TRG, PAEL and TPL, which formed 37 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively include EFERT (+10 points), PMPK (+10 points), MARI (+7 points), HGFA (+6 points) and BOP (+5 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-30 points), PAKT (-29 points), NESTLE (-23 points), FFC (-21 points) and PPL (-21 points).

  • Rupee ends unchanged in interbank foreign exchange market

    Rupee ends unchanged in interbank foreign exchange market

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended unchanged at all time low against the dollar on Tuesday amid demand for import and corporate payments.

    The rupee ended Rs156.99 to the dollar, the same previous day’s level, in interbank foreign exchange market.

    The foreign exchange market opened in the range of Rs156.75 and Rs157.00. The market recorded day high of Rs157.00 and low of Rs156.50 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    The exchange rate in open market was also remained unchanged. The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs156.00/Rs156.70, the same previous day’s level, in cash ready market.

  • FBR amends baggage rules, passengers required to make customs declaration

    FBR amends baggage rules, passengers required to make customs declaration

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has amended baggage rules and made it mandatory for passengers to declare their goods on arrival.

    The FBR on Tuesday issued draft amendments to Baggage Rules for passengers in order to clear their goods under concessionary or exempt regime.

    Under the draft rules made available to PkRevenue.com, a passenger is required to file a customs declaration at the time of arrival or departure.

    The declaration form shall include:

    Name of collectorate

    Passenger’s name

    Gender

    Date of birth

    Passport number

    Nationality

    Country coming from/going to

    Country going to (if in transit)

    Name of countries visited during the last 7 days

    Purpose of visit such as personal, official, business or tourism

    Contact person/sponsor, contact number in Pakistan, address in Pakistan

    The passenger is required to make following declaration:

    Are you carrying any of the following goods?

    Prohibited/restricted goods such as narcotics, psychotropic substance, firearms, weapons, satellite phones etc?

    Gold Jewelry, precious /semi previous stones

    Foreign currency in US $ or equivalent.

    Passengers have been advised to inform customs officer at the red channel if any of the above answer in Yes.

  • Automated sales tax registration to start from July 01: FBR

    Automated sales tax registration to start from July 01: FBR

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday said that the automated system for sales tax registration will start from July 01, 2019.

    The following procedure has been proposed and the same shall replace the one as prescribed in sub-rules (2) to (8) of rule 5 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990:

    The applicant having NTN/income tax registration shall, using his login credentials, upload following information / documents:

    Bank account certificate issued by the bank in the name of the business.

    Registration / consumer number with the gas and electricity supplier.

    Particulars of all branches in case of multiple branches at various locations.

    GPS-tagged photographs of the business premises In case of manufacturer, also the GPS-tagged photographs of machinery and industrial electricity or gas meter installed.

    On furnishing above documents, the system shall register the applicant for sales tax, the FBR said.

    After registration, the applicant or his authorized person shall visit e-Sahulat Centre of NADRA within a month for bio-metric verification.

    In case of failure to visit or failure of verification, the registered person’s name shall be taken off the sales tax Active Taxpayer List.

    In case of manufacturer, the FBR may require post verification through field offices or a third party authorized by the Board.

    In case, the field office, during scrutiny after the registration, finds that any document provided is non-genuine / fake / wrong, it may request through the system, to provide the missing document, in fifteen days, failing which the registered person shall be taken off from the sales Active Taxpayer List.

  • Customs stations to remain open on June 29, 30 for duty, tax collection

    Customs stations to remain open on June 29, 30 for duty, tax collection

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has instructed all the customs stations in the country to remain open and observe extended working house till 10:00 pm on Saturday (June 29, 2019) and till 12:00 mid-night Sunday (June 30, 2019).

    The FBR issued these instructions for facilitation of trade in payment of duty/taxes.

    The FBR has further instructed the Chief Collector of Customs to liaise with the State Bank of Pakistan and other scheduled commercial banks in their respective jurisdiction to ensure transfer of the duties/taxes collected by these branches to the respective branches of State Bank of Pakistan on the same date and to account the same towards collection for the month of June, 2019, a notification said on Monday.