KARACHI: The staff level agreement of the IMF program is expected to restore confidence of the market, analysts said on Saturday.
(more…)Author: Faisal Shahnawaz
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SBP governor, FBR chairman removed as IMF team visiting
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday removed governor of the central bank and chief of the tax collecting agency in the wake of dismal fiscal position of the country and in the presence of visiting IMF mission, reports said.
The removal of the heads of top organizations has come at a time when the fiscal year is about to end and the government is finalizing budget preparation.
The media reported quoting sources said that Tariq Bajwa, governor, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had tendered his resignation after the federal government had sought his removal from the post of central bank governor.
However, the government removed Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan from the post of the chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The removal has come at a time when IMF team is visiting Pakistan on new loan program. The heads of SBP and FBR have important role in any IMF loan program.
The reports said that decision for removing was taken when Asad Umar was Finance Minister.
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Withholding tax rates on purchase, registration of motor vehicle for Tax Year 2019
KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued updated withholding tax rates on purchase and registration of motor vehicles.
The withholding tax rates have been updated through Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Act, 2019 as on March 09, 2019.
The withholding tax rate on registration of motor vehicle to be collected by excise and taxation department of provincial government under Sub-Section 1 of Section 231B of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001:
Registration of Motor Vehicle Filer Non-Filer Up to 850CC Rs7,500 Rs15,000 851CC to 1000CC Rs15,000 Rs37,500 1001CC to 1300CC Rs25,000 Rs60,000 1301CC to 1600CC Rs50,000 Rs150,000 1601CC to 1800CC Rs75,000 Rs225,000 1801CC to 2000CC Rs100,000 Rs300,000 2001CC to 2500CC Rs150,000 Rs450,000 2501CC to 3000CC Rs200,000 Rs600,000 Above 3000CC Rs250,000 Rs675,000
Every leasing company or a scheduled bank or a non-banking financial institution or an investment bank or a modaraba or a development finance institution, whether shariah compliant or under conventional mode, at the time of leasing of a motor vehicle to a non-filer, either through ijara or otherwise, shall collect advance tax at the rate of four per cent of the value of the motor vehicle under Sub-Section 1A of Section 231B of Income Tax Ordinance.Every motor vehicle registering authority of Excise and Taxation Department shall collect advance tax at the time of transfer of registration or ownership of a private motor vehicle, at the following rates under Sub-Section 2 Section 231B of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001:
Engine Capacity Tax for Filer Tax for Non-Filer Up to 850CC Rs 0 Rs5,000 851CC to 1000CC Rs5,000 Rs15,000 1001CC to 1300CC Rs7,500 Rs25,000 1301CC to 1600CC Rs12,500 Rs65,000 1601CC to 1800CC Rs18,750 Rs100,000 1801CC to 2000CC Rs25,000 Rs135,000 2001CC to 2500CC Rs37,500 Rs200,000 2501CC to 3000CC Rs50,000 Rs270,000 Above 3000CC Rs62,500 Rs300,000
Provided that no collection of advance tax under this sub-section shall be made on transfer of vehicle after five year from the date of first registration in Pakistan.Every manufacturer of a motor vehicle shall collect, at the time of sale of a motor car or jeep, advance tax at the following rates under Sub-Section 3 of Section 231B of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 from the person to whom such sale is made:
Engine Capacity Tax for Filer Tax for Non-filer Up to 850CC Rs7,500 Rs15,000 851CC to 1000CC Rs15,000 Rs37,500 1001CC to 1300CC Rs25,000 Rs60,000 1301CC to 1600CC Rs50,000 Rs150,000 1601CC to 1800CC Rs75,000 Rs225,000 1801CC to 2000CC Rs100,000 Rs300,000 2001CC to 2500CC Rs150,000 Rs450,000 2501CC to 3000CC Rs200,000 Rs600,000 Above 3000CC Rs250,000 Rs675,000 -
ECC reduces sales tax on petrol by 5 percent
Islamabad: The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) has taken a significant step towards providing relief to the masses by approving a reduction of sales tax by five percent.
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Total number of registered companies increases to 99,291: SECP
ISLAMABAD: The total number of registered companies has increased to 99,291 by end of April 2019, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said on Friday.
The SECP said that it registered 1,460 new companies in April 2019 and the majority of them were registered within four hours.
As compared to the corresponding month of last financial year, the growth in incorporation of companies is noticed as 29 percent, raising the number of registered companies to 99,291.
The massive increase in the new incorporations is the result of the SECP’s reforms in the ease of doing business, i.e. introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, one window facility for company incorporation and NTN generation, reduction in fee and enhanced assistance of investors by facilitation wings established by the SECP.
The SECP has upgraded browser’s compatibility and now in addition to Internet Explorer, other browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge can be used for name reservation and company incorporation processes. Consequently, 95 percent companies were registered online.
During the month 73 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while 24 percent were registered as single-member companies.
Three percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP).
The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 260 companies, services with 174, I.T. with 163, construction with 154, tourism with 81, real estate development with 67, food and beverages with 61, marketing and advertisement with 42, education with 41, corporate agricultural farming with 38, textile with 33.
Thirty companies belong to engineering, 26 to transport, 25 to healthcare, 21 each to pharmaceuticals, and fuel and energy, 20 to mining and quarrying, 19 to communication, 17 to cosmetics and toiletries, 16 each to auto and allied, and logging, 15 to chemicals, 14 each to broadcasting, and paper and board, 13 to cable and electric goods. Seventy-nine companies were registered in other sectors.
Foreign investment has been reported in 66 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Jordan, Korea South, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, UK, Ukraine and the US.
The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 503 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 406 and 311 in Lahore and Karachi respectively.
The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered, 79, 58, 38, 38, 21 and 6 companies respectively.
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Immediate reduction up to 75 percent in drug prices announced
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced immediate reduction in prices of drugs up to 75 percent, which were increased since December 2018.
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FBR imposes ban on transfers and postings
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday imposed ban on postings and transfers with immediate effect till June 30, 2019.
The FBR said that the revenue collection had entered the last quarter of the current fiscal year and preparation of federal budget for the year 2019/2020 was in full swing.
Therefore, it has been decided that no further transfer/posting of officers/officials in the field formation of FBR would be made till June 30, 2019.
The FBR further said that in the cases of hardship or of extreme necessity, the concerned heads of the field formations would be requested to seek board’s prior approval for such transfers/postings.
The notification has been sent to all heads of field formations of Inland Revenue Service and Pakistan Customs Service.
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Equity market plunges by 425 points on selling
KARACHI: The equity market plunged by 425 points on Friday owing to across the board selling.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 36,122 points as against 36,547 points showing a decline of 425 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a negative note with -3 points and a dull outlook.
After a negligible move of +9 points, the index continued down trodding and by end of first session, the market was down 315 points with a paltry 26 million shares in trading volume.
Second session saw further attrition and the index slid by a total of 476 points and ended -425 points.
Selling was observed across the board and contributed by mainly Banks and E&P sectors. Declining international crude prices caused the onslaught of E&P scrips, with OGDC regressing 1.8 percent with a volume of 2.4 million shares. Amongst Cement sector, FCCL and MLCF contributed in top 10 stocks.
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-128 points), Banks (-95 points), Fertilizer (-60 points), O&GMCs (-30 points), Cement (-24 points).
Volumes remained low at 64 million shares as against 68 million shares yesterday (-5 percent DoD).
Average traded value on the contrary increased by 18 percent to reach US$ 20.7 million as against US$ 17.5 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, FCCL, BOP, LOTCHEM and OGDC, which formed 32 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include BAHL (+13 points), PSMC (+6 points), COLG (+6 points), IGIHL (+5 points), and NATF (+4 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-57 points), PPL (-55 points), POL (-37 points), OGDC (-33 points) and ENGRO (-29 points).
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IMF, Planning Commission discuss CPEC, PSDP
ISLAMABAD: Ernesto Rigo IMF Mission Chief called on Secretary Planning, Development and Reform Zafar Hasan to discuss Public Sector Development Program (PSDP), China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other aspects of planning including macro-economic policies, a statement said on Friday.
Project Director Hassan Daud, Chief Macroeconomic Zafar-ul-Hassan and senior officials of the Ministry were also present in the meeting.
The two sides exchanged program on the growth targets as well as policy adjustments to keep the growth momentum.
Secretary planning gave a comprehensive overview of the planning process and on CPEC program.
The two sides shared measures to create growth through both external and internal balance.
The role of Pakistan Bureau of statistics was also discussed in the meeting.
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Banks to remain close on 1st Ramazan
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday said that it will remain closed for public dealing on 1st Ramadan-ul-Mubarak 1440 A.H., which will be observed as Bank Holiday for deduction of Zakat, as usual.
All banks / development financial institutions / microfinance banks shall, therefore, remain closed for public dealing on 1st Ramadan-ul-Mubarak 1440 A.H.
However, all employees of the banks / DFIs / MFBs will attend the office on Bank Holiday treating it as normal working day (except for public dealing).