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  • Rupee fall continues; Dollar ends at PKR 219.71 in interbank

    Rupee fall continues; Dollar ends at PKR 219.71 in interbank

    KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) continued to fall against the dollar to end at PKR 219.71 on Tuesday at interbank foreign exchange market.

    The rupee recorded a decline of 82 paisas to end at PKR 219.71 against the dollar from previous day’s closing of PKR 218.89 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

    READ MORE: PKR falls to dollar in interbank on Oct 17, 2022

    Currency experts said that the local currency was under pressure during the day due to rising dollar demand for import payments and falling foreign exchange reserves.

    The dollar rebounded on October 12, 2022 after making a losing streak for straight 13 sessions to the rupee.

    READ MORE: PKR falls against dollar on depleting forex reserves

    The exchange rate reached to near record low of PKR 239.71 on September 22, 2022 to the dollar but ended at PKR 217.79 on October 10, 2022. Dar recently claimed that the actual value of the dollar is below PKR 200 and he vowed to bring it down.

    The rupee hit all-time low of PKR 239.94 against the dollar on July 28, 2022.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends up to PKR 218.38 in interbank on Oct 13, 2022

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves continued to decline and depleted by $342 million to $13.247 billion by week ended October 07, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $13.589 billion a week ago i.e. September 30, 2022.

    The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $13.981 billion.

    They said that the rupee had made gain during the past couple of weeks due to various measures taken by the central bank to curb the dollar hoarding.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends 13-day losing streak; ends at PKR 217.88

  • Updated active taxpayers list grows to 3.59 million

    Updated active taxpayers list grows to 3.59 million

    ISLAMABAD: An updated list issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday revealed that the number of active taxpayers has grown to 3.59 million.

    According to the latest Active Taxpayers List (ATL) the total number surged to 3,596,092 by October 16, 2022 for tax year 2021.

    READ MORE: FBR gets 3.38 million active taxpayers by August 28, 2022

    The ATL will also include names of those taxpayers who will file their income tax returns for the tax year 2021 in coming days till the ATL remained applicable.

    The FBR issues ATL weekly basis on Monday to update the names of persons who filed their income tax returns during the week.

    ATL provides taxpayers to get concession in payment of lower withholding tax rates or amount. The FBR issues ATL for the new tax year on the first day of March every year. Therefore, the existing ATL will prevail till February 28, 2023.

    READ MORE: Tax rates on payments to non-residents during 2022-2023

    According to the FBR the ATL is a central record of online Income Tax Return filers for the previous Tax Year.

    It further says that ATL is published every financial year on the 1st March and is valid up to the last day of February of the next financial year. For example, Active Taxpayer List for Tax year 2020 was published on 1st March 2021 and will be valid till 28th February 2022. Similarly, Active Taxpayer List for Tax year 2021 will be published on 1st March 2022 and will be valid till 28th February 2023.

    The ATL is updated on every Monday on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) website.

    The FBR said that a person’s name will be part of the current ATL, if the Tax Return filed pertains to the Tax year of the relevant ATL. For example, to be part of the ATL published on 1st March 2021, a person must have filed a Tax return for the Tax year 2020. Similarly, to be a part of the ATL published on 1st March 2022, a person must have filed a Tax Return for the Tax year 2021.

    READ MORE: Preventing currency smuggling top priority: FBR Chairman

    Restriction on including a person’s name on ATL, if the person has not filed Tax Return by the due date specified by Income Tax authorities was introduced through Finance Act, 2018. For example, to be part of the ATL published on 1st March 2022, a person must file a Tax Return by the specified due date for the Tax year 2021.

    However, through Finance Act, 2019 a person’s name can be part of ATL, even if the person has filed Tax Return after the due date specified by Income Tax authorities.

    Furthermore, a surcharge for placement on ATL after due date of filing of Tax Return will be charged as under:

    Company: Rs20,000

    Association of Persons: Rs10,000

    Individuals: Rs1,000

    READ MORE: FBR collects Rs459 billion as sales tax on POL products in TY 2022

    A company or an AOP shall be included in the ATL, whose return is not to be filed due to incorporation or formation after 30th day of June relevant to the Tax year pertaining to the ATL.

    Joint account holders as an entity shall be deemed to be part of ATL if any of the persons in the joint account have met the criteria of being included in the ATL.

    Bank account held in the name of a minor shall be considered part of ATL if the parents, guardians of the minor or any person who has deposited money in minor’s account are deemed to have met the criteria of being included in the ATL.

  • Rupee sinks to PKR 219.11 to dollar in early interbank trading

    Rupee sinks to PKR 219.11 to dollar in early interbank trading

    KARACHI: The Pakistan Rupee (PKR) fell to PKR 219.11 against the dollar in early trading at interbank foreign exchange market on Monday.

    The exchange rate witnessed a decline of 68 paisas in rupee value as the foreign currency is being traded at PKR 219.11 from last Friday’s closing of PKR 218.43 in the interbank foreign currency market.

    READ MORE: PKR falls against dollar on depleting forex reserves

    Currency experts said that the local currency was under immense pressure due to higher import payment demand and repayment against foreign debt.

    The dollar rebounded on October 12, 2022 after making a losing streak for straight 13 sessions to the rupee.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends up to PKR 218.38 in interbank on Oct 13, 2022

    The exchange rate reached to near record low of PKR 239.71 on September 22, 2022 to the dollar but ended at PKR 217.79 on October 10, 2022. Dar recently claimed that the actual value of the dollar is below PKR 200 and he vowed to bring it down.

    The rupee hit all-time low of PKR 239.94 against the dollar on July 28, 2022.

    Currency experts said that the rising dollar demand was due to falling foreign exchange reserves and increasing import payments.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends 13-day losing streak; ends at PKR 217.88

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves continued to decline and depleted by $342 million to $13.247 billion by week ended October 07, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $13.589 billion a week ago i.e. September 30, 2022.

    The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $13.981 billion.

    They said that the rupee had made gain during the past couple of weeks due to various measures taken by the central bank to curb the dollar hoarding.

    READ MORE: PKR maintains winning streak to dollar for 13th straight session

  • Preventing currency smuggling top priority: FBR Chairman

    Preventing currency smuggling top priority: FBR Chairman

    ISLAMABAD: Asim Ahmad, Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said that prevention of currency smuggling is top priority of Pakistan Customs.

    The FBR chairman identified top priority arrears of the government to combat smuggling of currency, vehicles, and goods. Besides, prevention of mis-invoicing was also one of the top priorities, he added.

    READ MORE: FBR collects Rs459 billion as sales tax on POL products in TY 2022

    Asim Ahmad, Chairman, addressed the inaugural session of the quarterly coordination and performance review conference held recently of the Regional Directors of the Directorate General of Intelligence & Investigation-Customs; an important arm of the FBR.

    The Chairman made it very clear that the Directorate General, I&I-Customs, had the capacity and competence to come up to the expectations with respect to each of these priority areas.

    READ MORE: WHT share in direct taxes jumps to 67% despite omitting provisions

    He assured the Director General, Faiz Ahmad Chadhar, that all possible resources required to achieve the desired results will be provided by FBR.

    During the 12 hours long conference, each Regional Director gave a detailed presentation on the performance in the first quarter of FY 2022-23.

    It covered major challenges hindering achievement of organizational goals, methods of information gathering, gaps in human resource and logistics as well as suggestions for further improvement.

    READ MORE: Pakistan amends baggage rules; now $1,000 require declaration

    In his closing remarks, the Director General directed the Regional Directors to focus on mis-invoicing not only in imports but also in exports, mis-use of exemption regimes, variation in pattern of transit trade viz a viz national imports and improving vigil along the borders.

    He underscored the importance of improved liaison of the officers of Directorate General of I&I-Customs with national law enforcement agencies including Police, Rangers, FC, ANF, Provincial Excise Departments, other national intelligence agencies, and District Administration.

    READ MORE: PTBA raises objections to amendments proposed by FBR

    He also highlighted the need of coordination with the Chambers of Commerce and other trade bodies to have first-hand knowledge about their issues and grievances.

    The Director General further emphasized that meeting the targets and expectations of FBR and the Federal Government with respect to smuggling, money laundering, and mis-invoicing will lead to creation of an enabling environment in the country for economic growth and investment.

  • Pakistan keeps petroleum prices unchanged from October 16, 2022

    Pakistan keeps petroleum prices unchanged from October 16, 2022

    The government of Pakistan has decided to keep the prices of petroleum products unchanged for the fortnight starting from October 16, 2022.

    Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar in a statement said that Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had sent summary for increase in prices of petroleum products but the government had decided to maintain the prices at the level of October 01, 2022 and will be applicable till October 31, 2022.

    READ MORE: Pakistan sharply reduces petroleum prices from October 01, 2022

    Therefore the prices from October 16, 2022 shall be remained at the level of October 01, 2022. Previously, on September 30, 2022 following changes in petroleum prices were announced:

    The rate of petrol has been reduced by Rs12.63 per liter to Rs224.80 from Rs237.43.

    The price of high speed diesel has been cut by 12.13 per liter to Rs235.30 from Rs247.43.

    The rate of Kerosene oil has been slashed by Rs10.19 to Rs191.83 from Rs202.02.

    The price of light diesel oil has been reduced by Rs10.78 to Rs186.50 from Rs197.28.

    READ MORE: Pakistan reviews petroleum prices on Sept 30, 2022 amid crash in global rates

    Energy experts were believing that the government would announce a sharp reduction in petroleum prices for next fortnight starting from October 16, 2022 owing to massive gain in value of local currency and lower prices of oil in international markets.

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had also hinted to reduce the oil prices significantly in order to stabilize the economy and ease the burden of high prices.

    The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) has recorded massive gain 13 sessions against the dollar.

    Furthermore, the benchmark US Brent oil also fell owing to fears of lower demand globally.

    The government has reduced the petroleum prices in the wake of massive decline in international oil prices.

    READ MORE: New petroleum prices in Pakistan effective from September 21, 2022

    The previous government of PTI had kept both the petroleum levy and sales tax at zero in order to provide relief to the masses. The PTI government also provided a huge subsidy on prices of petroleum products in order to lower the rates and provide relief to the masses.

    However, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed through a vote of no-confidence motion on April 10, 2022. Since then the new coalition government led by PML-N increased the prices of petroleum products sharply on three different occasions.

    READ MORE: New petroleum prices in Pakistan from September 01, 2022

    The present government in the budget estimated to collect Rs855 billion as petroleum levy during the fiscal year 2022/2023. As this fiscal year is starting from July 01, 2022, it is likely that the government will opt to impose the levy from this date.

  • FBR collects Rs459 billion as sales tax on POL products in TY 2022

    FBR collects Rs459 billion as sales tax on POL products in TY 2022

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reported a substantial growth in sales tax collection on the import of Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (POL) products during the tax year 2022, reaching an impressive Rs459 billion.

    (more…)
  • FBR announces prize winners of 10th POS balloting

    FBR announces prize winners of 10th POS balloting

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Saturday announced prize winners of 10th balloting of invoices issued by point of sales (POS) of big retailers.

    According to the FBR, the bumper prize of Rs1,000,000 has been awarded to Muhammad Imran on the invoice issued by Super Drugs.

    READ MORE: FTO directs stop unlawful recovery from taxpayers’ bank accounts

    The FBR announced winners of two second prizes of Rs500,000 each to Khawaja Fahd Naveed on the invoice issued by Bread and Beyond and Muhammad Yasir Ehsan on the invoice issued by Clinix.

    Similarly, the four winners of third prize amounting Rs250,000 each have been awarded to Faiz Ahmed, Shahiryar khalid, Muhammad Sufyan and Mohsin Hassan.

    The FBR conducts computerized balloting of invoices issued by Tier-1 retailers on every 15th day of a month. This was ninth draw as it was started in January 15, 2022.

    READ MORE: FBR collects Rs196 billion as income tax from salaried class

    The FBR encouraged people to actively participate in the balloting to win prizes after buying from POS integrated retailers.

    The FBR previously issued a procedure for participating in the prize scheme.

    The revenue body said that the customers of the integrated tier-1 retailers, whose names and CNICs are notified through random computerized draw shall be entitled to prizes in respect of their purchases from the integrated tier-1 retailers.

    The customers shall verify the electronically generated invoice of integrated retailers either through the “tax asaan” application or by sending SMS to number 9966.

    READ MORE: WHT share in direct taxes jumps to 67% despite omitting provisions

    The application shall notify the customer regarding the status of the invoice either as “verified” or “unverified”.

    In case of a verified invoice, the customer shall furnish one time, the following detail to the online system, namely:- Name; CNIC; and Mobile number.

    Names and CNICs of the customers shall be included in the random computerized draw upon fulfillment of the requirement.

    In case of an unverified invoice, the customer shall report the same through the system. The Board shall conduct inquiry and take appropriate action under the relevant provisions of law.

    The computerized draw for the prizes shall be held in the first week of every month at the FBR Headquarters and the invoices of the immediately preceding month shall be entered in the draw.

    Draw winners shall be required to perform biometric verification, at the nearest e-sahulat facility of NADRA and submit a scanned copy on the “tax assan” application. After successful biometric verification, winners shall be required to provide their IBAN through a “tax asaan” application.

    The total prize money and the denomination of the prizes shall be decided on month to month basis by the Board.

  • PKR falls against dollar on depleting forex reserves

    PKR falls against dollar on depleting forex reserves

    KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) on Friday weakened by five paisas against the dollar on Friday owing to falling foreign exchange reserves.

    The exchange rate ended PKR 218.43 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of PKR 218.37 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends up to PKR 218.38 in interbank on Oct 13, 2022

    The dollar rebounded on October 12, 2022 after making a losing streak for straight 13 sessions to the PKR.

    The exchange rate reached to near record low of PKR 239.71 on September 22, 2022 to the dollar but ended at PKR 217.79 on October 10, 2022. Dar recently claimed that the actual value of the dollar is below PKR 200 and he vowed to bring it down.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends 13-day losing streak; ends at PKR 217.88

    Currency experts said that the rising dollar demand was due to falling foreign exchange reserves and increasing import payments.

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves continued to decline and depleted by $342 million to $13.247 billion by week ended October 07, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $13.589 billion a week ago i.e. September 30, 2022.

    READ MORE: PKR maintains winning streak to dollar for 13th straight session

    The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $13.981 billion.

    They said that the rupee had made gain during the past couple of weeks due to various measures taken by the central bank to curb the dollar hoarding.

    READ MORE: Rupee gains for 12th straight session; dollar ends at PKR 217.97

  • Dollar climbs up to PKR 219.38 in early interbank trading

    Dollar climbs up to PKR 219.38 in early interbank trading

    KARACHI: The US dollar climbed up against the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) to reach PKR 219.38 in early day trading at interbank foreign exchange market on Friday.

    The foreign currency gained PKR 1 to trade at PKR 219.38 from previous day’s closing of PKR 218.38 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends up to PKR 218.38 in interbank on Oct 13, 2022

    The dollar rebounded on October 12, 2022 after making a losing streak for straight 13 sessions to the PKR.

    The exchange rate reached to near record low of PKR 239.71 on September 22, 2022 to the dollar but ended at PKR 217.79 on October 10, 2022. Dar recently claimed that the actual value of the dollar is below PKR 200 and he vowed to bring it down.

    READ MORE: Dollar ends 13-day losing streak; ends at PKR 217.88

    Currency experts said that the rising dollar demand was due to falling foreign exchange reserves and increasing import payments.

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves continued to decline and depleted by $342 million to $13.247 billion by week ended October 07, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $13.589 billion a week ago i.e. September 30, 2022.

    READ MORE: PKR maintains winning streak to dollar for 13th straight session

    The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $13.981 billion.

    They said that the rupee had made gain during the past couple of weeks due to various measures taken by the central bank to curb the dollar hoarding.

    READ MORE: Rupee gains for 12th straight session; dollar ends at PKR 217.97

  • FTO directs stop unlawful recovery from taxpayers’ bank accounts

    FTO directs stop unlawful recovery from taxpayers’ bank accounts

    Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has directed the tax authorities to stop unlawful recovery from bank accounts of taxpayers.

    The FTO issued the order dated September 30, 2022 in a complaint against non-issuance of refund amounting to Rs23.25 million for tax year 2016 along with compensation.

    READ MORE: FTO investigates tax collection through electricity bills

    According to the complainant, which is an Association of Person (AOP), filed return for tax year 2016. Later on, a tax office of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), amended the assessment order by making an addition of Rs1,754 million and rs164.21 million.

    Being aggrieved, the complainant filed appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals), Gujranwala who modified the order and annulled the addition of Rs164 million, with the directions that the unit office for further necessary verification and confirmed the addition of Rs1,754 million.

    READ MORE: President Alvi rejects FBR plea in maladministration cases

    The tax office, recovered an amount of Rs23.25 million through attachment of bank accounts on the very next day without passing appeal effect order. Statedly, recovery was also made from bank accounts of some un-concerned persons.

    The complainant filed appeal before appellate tribunal Lahore, who order granted stay order with certain observations.

    The FTO in its findings revealed that the recovery of Rs23.25 million had been made from the complainant AOP and certain other unconcerned whereas no demand was in the field at the time of making such recovery. “This act of department tantamount to maladministration.”

    READ MORE: FTO directs customs to clear pending auctions

    It is also found that recovery from the bank accounts of unconcerned person is also an act which tantamount to maladministration.

    The FTO in its recommendations to the FBR to ensure that an internal fact finding is conducted to see as who had recovered the amounts from bank account without giving appeal effect and without having legally recoverable tax demand on record.

    READ MORE: KTBA passes resolution against FTO Asif Jah

    FBR has been asked to issue clear directions to all field formations: forestalling unlawful recovery in the absence of any legally recoverable tax demand; and recovery from the accounts of unconcerned persons/entities.