Pkrevenue.com

Author: Faisal Shahnawaz

  • FBR freezes 4,000 bank accounts for arrears recovery

    FBR freezes 4,000 bank accounts for arrears recovery

    KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has frozen around 4,000 bank accounts of tax defaulters in a major crackdown, according to media reports on Tuesday.

    These bank accounts have been attached during last three months to recover outstanding amount from tax defaulters.

    In the major action against tax defaulters the FBR recovered around Rs8.2 billion through various means provided under income tax laws.

    Besides freezing bank accounts, the FBR also attached 78 immovable properties and 46 vehicles for the recovery.

    Further, about nine people were arrested in this recovery drive. The arrests have been made each in Faisalabad and Peshawar. Further, warrants for arrest in two cases have been issued.

  • Asad Umar meets IMF mission chief

    Asad Umar meets IMF mission chief

    ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister of Pakistan Asad Umar met the IMF Mission Chief Ernesto Ramirez Rigo in Islamabad, on Tuesday.

    The minister and the Mission Chief discussed all issues including fiscal, monetary, structural reforms and energy sector, a statement said.

    Asad Umar briefed Ramirez Rigo about the steps taken by the government for improving the economy of the country.

    The minister informed that the structural reforms and other economic initiatives introduced by the government were yielding desired results.

    The minister said that the government would continue to address the macroeconomic imbalances and would take necessary corrective measures in this regard.

  • Govt. decides to end open sky policy: Fawad

    Govt. decides to end open sky policy: Fawad

    ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to end the open sky policy in order to prevent losses to national flag carrier i.e. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

    Federal Minster for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain at a press conference after the federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday said that the government had decided to end the country’s open sky policy which proved to be disastrous for PIA.

    Most of the profitable routes were given to international airlines which led to huge loss for PIA, he said.

    All agreements with international airlines would be reviewed, he added.

    He said that the cabinet approved civil aviation policy to pro-actively promote tourism and give boost to aviation industry in the country.

    The decisions made in the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    He said traveling to the tourist resorts of Pakistan will be facilitated by reducing travel expenditures.

    Fawad said facilities, including reduction in traveling expenses and cuts in taxes, worth Rs3.8 billion would be offered to promote tourism and aviation sector.

    He said the cabinet also discussed to start helicopter and 40-seat plane service to the tourist sites in the country including Gilgit-Baltistan and Swat.

    The purpose for this initiative, was to provide benefits to local aviation industry,” he said, adding that it was necessary to improve travel facilities to the country’s tourist locations to attract elite tourism.

    The minister announced that passenger airlines in Pakistan will be allowed to import aeroplanes which are 18-years-old compared to the previous limit of 12 years while cargo planes up to 30 years old, could be imported.

    New recommendations with regards to aviation also included charges on flight kitchens being abolished, and a recommendation to reduce taxes on domestic routes, he added.

    The minister also announced a special initiative by CAA of paying up to Rs 400,000 in fees for women to attract them for becoming pilots.

  • PTCL signs agreement for clean, green Pakistan

    PTCL signs agreement for clean, green Pakistan

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) have signed an agreement to support the Clean Green Pakistan Movement.

    This collaboration will enable to tackle issues of low forest cover and poor cleanliness in urban & rural areas of Pakistan, said a statement on Tuesday.

    Under this MoU, PTCL and MoCC agreed upon afforestation of 200,000 trees across PTCL sites in the next five years.

    The MoU was signed by Syed Mazhar Hussain, Chief Human Resource Officer, PTCL and Babar Hayat Tarar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change, followed by plantation of saplings at PTCL HQ.

    Furthermore, PTCL will initiate cleanliness drives in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to assist the solid waste management.

    In the initial phase, the company pledges to ban non-recyclable plastics in PTCL HQ in Islamabad.

    The company shall also arrange clean drinking water for its employees in connection with its resolve to implement health care and better environment to the workforce.

    Moreover, PTCL will also install filtration units to provide clean drinking water for the general public.

    On the occasion, Ms. Zartaj Gul Wazir, State Minister for Climate Change, said, “We are glad to collaborate with PTCL on Clean Green Pakistan Movement, which is to create awareness across the country regarding the importance of environmental preservation. PTCL has initiated a comprehensive awareness campaign on converting customers from paper bill to eBilling, which is a step in the right direction. As a nation, we need to come together to tackle issues like pollution and low forest cover. Under the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of clean and green Pakistan, partnerships like this are going to pave the way in achieving our objective.”

    On the occasion, Rashid Khan, President and CEO, PTCL, said, “As a national company, it is our responsibility to support Clean Green Pakistan Movement. We are happy to collaborate with Ministry of Climate Change to create awareness and conduct trainings on environmental preservation. To promote this initiative, our teams across Pakistan will be executing afforestation campaigns.”

    In the past, PTCL has partnered with WWF for plantation of200,000 mangrove seeds in Balochistan, as part of the conservation organizations nationwide tree plantation campaign, called ‘Rung Do’. PTCL HQ is also Green Office certified by WWF.

    Recently, the company has also taken steps to ensure that numerous avenues are open for customers to opt for eBilling like PTCL website, Touch App and helpline 1218, to go paperless and save trees.

    PTCL is constantly contributing towards saving the environment and a greener Pakistan.

  • FBR notifies promotion of IRS officers to BS-22

    FBR notifies promotion of IRS officers to BS-22

    ISLAMABAD – In a significant development, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced the promotions of two distinguished officers from the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) to the coveted BS-22 rank.

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  • Eatery owners knowingly ignore hygiene requirements: Sindh Food Authority

    Eatery owners knowingly ignore hygiene requirements: Sindh Food Authority

    KARACHI: Eatery owners are well aware about their shortcomings yet they ignore hygiene requirements and compromise with public health, Abrar Ahmed Sheikh, Director Operations, Sindh Food Authority (SFA) said on Tuesday.

    Talking at Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the director urged the owners of all eateries, restaurants, bakeries and other food-related businesses to improve the hygienic conditions in their business premises and provide safe & healthy food to the public otherwise strict action will continue to take place and no compromise will be made over the quality and hygienic conditions.

    Abrar Sheikh said: “It is impossible that the eatery owners are not aware of the shortcomings. They know what exactly is going wrong and they simply cannot deny it yet they ignore it, do not take remedial measures and continue to play with lives of the masses by providing unhygienic and hazardous food which cannot be tolerated.”

    President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior Vice President Khurram Shahzad, Vice President Asif Sheikh Javaid, Former President AQ Khalil, Former Vice President Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Chairman All Pakistan Restaurants Association Shaukat Ali Omerson, Managing Committee members and a large number of businessmen associated with food-related businesses also attended the meeting.

    Director Operations SFA further stated that SFA works under a transparent mechanism in which the working parameters for food technologists and food safety officers have been defined in such a manner that leave absolutely no room for any kind of under the table deal therefore, all businessmen associated with food businesses should stop thinking about bribing the officers and must rectify their shortcomings, improve the hygienic conditions and provide healthy food to the masses otherwise they will be taken to task by the Authority.

    He explained that SFA never seals any business premises immediately after identifying hygiene and food quality related shortcomings as the authority initially issues an improvement notice and also raises awareness about the hygiene and food quality requirements, which is followed by a warning notice and penalty if the eatery owners fail to improve.

    Subsequently, if the eatery owners continue to avoid taking corrective steps even after the imposition of penalty and warning notice, it leaves no other option for SFA but to seal the business premises under Section 45 of CrPC that results in temporary suspension of commercial activities until all the SFA requirements are complied.

    Referring to President KCCI’s remarks, Director SFA said, “We also want to promote the ease of doing business but no compromise will made over the food quality and hygienic conditions. It is high time to change which has become inevitable now.

    “We firmly believe in consultation rather than taking decisions in isolation, which is the basic reason why SFA carries out awareness drives prior to issuing any warning notice or imposing penalty.”

    He further informed that work was in progress at SFA for setting up a world-class state-of-the-art laboratory where the facility to carry out all forms of tests and verifications will be available which will be acceptable globally.

    Vegetables being cultivated by using the sewage water cannot be tolerated which was a very serious issue therefore, the SFA has decided to initiate a massive drive in which all such productions will be completely bulldozed and strategies will be devised to make that no sewage water is used in future for cultivation of vegetables, he added.

    He stressed that both institutions will have to work collectively to create a healthier society. “We need KCCI’s support otherwise we cannot move forward”, he added.

    Speaking on the occasion, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda stated that the Karachi Chamber has been successfully playing the role of bridge between the business community and SFA therefore, any grievance being faced by businessmen be brought to Chamber’s notice so that the issue could be amicably resolved.

    “The authorities at Sindh Food Authority must also work closely with KCCI and carry out all its operation in consultation with KCCI in order to create an enabling business environment”, he added.

    He was of the opinion that prior to taken any action, SFA must hold frequent awareness sessions and make people aware of the required hygienic conditions and food quality as it takes many years to build a brand name which is destroyed within minutes as it has been observed that all the activities being carried out by SFA were being widely broadcasted in the media.

    He also underscored the need to adopt uniform policies by all the food authorities across Pakistan as it has been observed that these policies vary in Sindh, Punjab and KPK, creating a confusing situation for businessmen.

    Referring to SFA operation largely confined to Karachi only, he said that the department should expand its operations to other cities of Sindh as well where hundreds of people were suffering terribly due to unhygienic and low-quality food stuff.

  • Equity market gains 200 points on improved sentiments

    Equity market gains 200 points on improved sentiments

    KARACHI: The equity market gained 200 points on Tuesday after improved trading sentiments.

    The KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 38,329 points as against 38,129 points showing an increase of 200 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market sentiment improved after a long time and the index closed positive.

    After an initial down side of 89 points at the beginning of session, the market turned positive and investors took positive bets on the outcome of Supreme Court’s decision relating to Nawaz Sharif, which is considered to be a sign of resolving political stalemate at the parliament and focusing on core economic issues by the government.

    Cement, Fertilizer, Autos and E&P sector contributed the most to the upside, especially by the end of session. O&GMCs, especially SSGC, also went up with expectation of financial results to be announced soon as the extension got turned down by SECP.

    Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+101 points), Autos (+22 points), Fertilizer (+20 points), Engineering (+14 points) and O&GMCs (+13 points).

    Volumes increased significantly from 56.5 million shares to 86.1 million shares. Average traded value also increased by 33 percent to reach $ 25.2 million as against $ 19 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, KEL, OGDC, FCCL and TRG, which formed 38 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively include OGDC (+54 points), PPL (+30 points), MARI (+12 points), SNGP (+11 points), and SEARL (+9 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include FCCL (-8 points), PSO (-7 points), SPWL (-5 points), KTML (-5 points) and HBL (-4 points).

  • Rupee ends with two paisas gain

    Rupee ends with two paisas gain

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained two paisas against dollar on Tuesday amid higher demand for import and corporate payments.

    The rupee ended Rs140.27 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs140.29 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    The interbank foreign exchange market was initiated in the range of Rs140.25 and Rs140.30.

    The market recorded day high of Rs140.30 and low of Rs140.26 and closed at Rs140.27.

    The exchange rate in open market however ended with appreciation of local currency against the dollar.

    The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs140.50/Rs141.00 from previous day’s closing of Rs140.80/Rs141.30 in cash ready market.

  • MCC Preventive announces auction of confiscated vehicle on March 28

    MCC Preventive announces auction of confiscated vehicle on March 28

    KARACHI: Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Preventive, Karachi has announced auction of confiscated vehicle to be held on March 28, 2019 at Anti-Smuggling Organizations (ASO), Ghasbandar, East Wharf, Karachi.

    The following vehicles will be presented for the auction:

    1. Mitsubishi Pajero Jeep ( Used) GS-2000 Model-1994, Reg. GS-2000 / V46 – 4034791.

    2. Used Lexus Car – Reg No. UC – 868 -Model – 2006 – 3450cc, JTHBG 963905034702.

    3. Used Toyota Premio Car VVT – Reg no. AAH – 747 Model – 2007, ZZT240 0140149.

    4. Used Toyota Harrier Jeep Reg no. JAA – 452 – Model – 1998 – 2999 cc, Chassis no. MCU – 10 – 0013510 Engine no. IMZ – FE 6688090.

    5. Used Toyota Hilux Surf – Reg no- CP – 0693/ Model – 1990/ 2958cc, Chassis no. LN – 130 – 0009771.

    6. Used Honda Saloon Accord Car/ Reg no. BFT – 418/ Model 2003/ 1990cc, Chassis no. LC7 – 3006339/ Engine no. 33101802.

    7. Toyota Hiluc Surf SSR – X – 3.0/ Reg no. BD – 8045/ Model KD – KZN130W – GKPQT/ 2962 cc, Chassis no. KZN 130 – 9048116/ Engine no. IKZ – TE.

    8. Used Mercedes Benz ( AG) Fake Reg no. AB – 1001/ 2999cc, Chassis no. WDB1240312B476728.

    9. Used Toyota Mark – II Saloon Car/ Reg no. BBL – 708/ Model – 2000/ 1800HP, Chassis no. JZX110 – 6000922/ Engine no. 1JZ – 075 – 075010.

    10. Used Toyota Hilux Surf/ Reg no. BD – 1688/ Model – 1994 ( As per seat belt), Chassis no. LN – 130 – 0123784.

    11. Used Toyota AXIO – X Car – White colour – Reg no. BFE – 068 – 1496 cc – Model – 2007, Chassis no. NZE – 141 – 6028039/ Engine no. INZ – CO360547.

    12. Toyota Primo Car Used – Reg no. AAM – 095 – Model – 2005 – 1794 cc, Chassis no. ZZT – 240 – 5039822/ Engine no. IZZFE – 12557.

    13. Used Honda Civic Saloon Car – White Colour Reg no. AAM – 988 (Quetta) – Model – 2007, Chassis no. FD – 31001100/ Engine no. MF – 5100586 – 1800cc.

    14. Used Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep – Silver Colour – Reg no. BG – 1131 – Model – 1989 – 3431 cc, Chassis no. BJ 60 – 023765 – Engine no. 38 – 1098887(As per Reg.Book).

    15. Used Toyota Corolla Car – Model – 2015, Reg no. BDE – 852 – Chassis no. NZE170R4016729.

    16. Used Toyota Crown Saloon Car – Model – 2004, Reg no. BHK – 012/ Chassis no. GRS182 – 5014910 – Engine no. 3GR – FSF – 2994cc.

    17. used toyota saloon car XE-Model -1999 – 1500cc chassis No AE-100-5171778-engine No SA-FE-1500cc

    18. Used Toyota Mark-X Car, Reg no BGB-453-Model -2005, Chassis No GRX-121-3000684-Engine No 3GR-FSE0077053-2497cc.

    19. Used Toyota Premio Saloon Car Reg No, AXE-317, Chassis No ZZT 240-0124717- Engine No 1ZZ-2614685.

    20. Used Toyouta Premio Saloon Car, Reg No BFM-306-Model- 2004, Chassis No AZT240-0017447, engine No 1AZ-4802097-1998cc.

    21. Used Toyota Mark-X Car, Reg No BBC-301, Model -2005, Chassis No GRX-120-0042956-Engine No 4GR-FSE-2499cc.

    22. Used Landcruiser Jeep, Reg No E-1132, Model -1997, Chassis No KZJ95-0080245, Engine No IKZ-TE-0547566-2982cc.

    23. Used Toyota Hilux Surf Jeep, Reg No BJ-933, Model -2000, Chassis No RZN-185-9029667-Engine No 3RZ-FE-2122003-2963cc.

    24. Used Toyota Vitz Car, Reg No RFL-1788, MOdel -2004, Chassis No SCP-13-0048794-Engine No 2SZ-FE-1297cc.

    25. Used Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep, Reg No GR-541, Model-2015, chassis No TRJ150-051668, Engine No 2TR-FE.

    26. Used Toyota Crown Royal Saloon (G)Car, Fake Reg No BEZ-998, Model-2005, Chassis No GRS 182-1015624-Engine No 0123426, 2994cc.

  • Income Tax Ordinance 2001: Corporate tax rate to be reduced to 25pc

    Income Tax Ordinance 2001: Corporate tax rate to be reduced to 25pc

    The government of Pakistan has undertaken a strategic initiative to gradually reduce corporate income tax rates, aiming to bring them down to 25% by the tax year 2023 and onwards.

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