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Category: Trade & Industry

This section covers news on trade and industry. Pakistan Revenue is committed to providing the latest updates on business trends.

  • Pakistan unlikely to get benefit from 2nd phase of China FTA: SITE Association

    Pakistan unlikely to get benefit from 2nd phase of China FTA: SITE Association

    KARACHI: Pakistan may not get benefit from the 2nd phase of Pak China FTA as Chinese imports of $2 trillion are either of raw materials or high-tech equipment.

    “Pakistan does not have the industrial and technical base to produce high-tech equipment such as computers, ICs, telecommunication equipment & automobiles,” Saud Mahmood, Chairman SITE Taxation and Trade Policy, said in a statement on Friday.

    Moreover, he said, exports of minerals, live stock and agricultural products is not accelerated by FTAs as importing countries do not apply duties on raw materials.

    China is known as the supplier of the world with huge current account surpluses with most trading partners.

    After the first phase of PAK China FTA, we had to impose up to 30 percent regulatory duty to save the local industry from closing down.

    Even after the imposition of 30 percent regulatory duty, trade deficit from China is over $15 billion with Pakistan exporting under USD 3bn worth of goods to China, mostly minerals, agricultural products, and livestock.

    In view of the above ground realities, it would be interesting to see in which areas Ministry of Commerce has envisioned growth of Pakistan’s exports to China.

    If exports to China are expected to grow to $6 billion after the 2nd phase of FTA, an item wise break up in which exports are expected to jump should be shared with the industry for their comments.

    In the absence of such a detailed effort duly endorsed by leading chambers, it seems that we are all set to shoot ourselves in the foot again.

  • Yarn merchants urge FBR to stop harassment over turnover tax

    Yarn merchants urge FBR to stop harassment over turnover tax

    KARACHI: The Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) has urgently called on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to issue a clear clarification regarding the applicable turnover income tax rate for yarn merchants, following what it describes as unjustified harassment by tax authorities.

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  • FPCCI signs three MoUs at Belt and Road Conference

    FPCCI signs three MoUs at Belt and Road Conference

    The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has taken significant steps towards strengthening international trade relations by signing three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) at the Belt and Road CEO Conference held in Beijing, China.

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  • FBR asked not to send notices for turnover tax

    FBR asked not to send notices for turnover tax

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to issue necessary instructions to all RTOs to refrain from sending notices for demanding the unjust annual turnover Tax to members of Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) till the issue is resolved as the Annual Turnover Tax, which was 0.1 percent, was inadvertently being charged at 1.0 percent.

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  • KCCI hopes new finance adviser to take steps minimizing taxpayers’ grievances

    KCCI hopes new finance adviser to take steps minimizing taxpayers’ grievances

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Monday felicitated Dr. Hafeez Shaikh on his appointment as adviser to prime minister on finance, revenue and economic affairs.

    The KCCI hoped that the new adviser would take practical steps in minimizing grievances of genuine taxpayers.

    Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli and President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, while extending heartfelt felicitations to Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh on his appointment as Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, said that keeping in view his vast experience and past performance, Dr. Hafeez Sheikh will certainly succeed in overcoming numerous crises being suffered by the country.

    In a letter sent to PM’s Adviser, Siraj Teli and Junaid Makda warmly welcomed the appointment of Dr. Hafeez Sheikh as PM’s Adviser and said that that due to his expertise and well acquaintance with trade and economic issues, the business and industrial community of Karachi was fairly optimistic that Dr. Sheikh will be able to successfully devise effective strategies in order to completely get rid of all types of crises.

    They stressed that as country was currently going through severe economic crises, therefore it was really essential that the business and industrial community should be taken on board in the policy making process.

    They hoped that the newly appointed PM’s Adviser would also take practical steps to minimize the grievances being faced by loyal taxpayers who are suffering terribly due to serious loopholes in the existing taxation mechanism.

    They stressed that the consultation strategy adopted by the PTI government with the business community of Karachi must continue and the contribution of more than 70 percent revenue to the national exchequer must always be taken into consideration.

    “The business and industrial community of Karachi stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the government during this difficult time and we will continue to support the government in the larger interest of the country,” they added.

    They also invited Dr. Hafeez Sheikh to visit the Karachi Chamber as soon as possible so that the business and industrial community could get an opportunity to share views about the Amnesty Scheme and also give valuable proposals for the forthcoming Federal Budget 2019-20, besides suggesting ways and means of how to improve the taxation system, enhance revenue generation and ensure ease of doing business which is one of the top most priority of the present government.

    Siraj Teli and Junaid Makda also paid glowing tribute to Former Finance Minister Asad Umer for always realizing the ground realities, making necessary corrections and struggling really hard to somehow minimize the burden on the poor segment of society.

  • FPCCI condemns terror attacks in Sri Lanka

    FPCCI condemns terror attacks in Sri Lanka

    KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Monday condemned brutal act of terrorism in Sri Lanka claiming around 290 lives.

    In a statement Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai, FPCCI President strongly condemned the coward and brutal act of terrorism on luxury hotels and Churches holding Easter Services in Sri-Lanka, killing nearly 290 innocent people – including dozens of foreigners – and injuring nearly 500 people, including Pakistanis in a series of eight devastating bomb blasts on Sunday.

    The Chief of FPCCI, an apex body of the trade and industry in the country, expressed his deepest and profound condolence on behalf of the business community and the people of Pakistan in the wake of terrorist attacks in Sri-Lanka.

    He conveyed sympathies for the bereaved families on lost of their loved one in tragic incidents and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

    The FPCCI President recalled, “Being a victim of protracted terrorism, Pakistan fully understands the pain of their Sri Lankan brethren and stands in complete solidarity with Sri-Lanka in their hour of grief.”

    Ackhazi hoped that the people of Sri Lanka would prevail unity and interfaith harmony amongst their ranks and files and the ugly attempts to destabilize their country would be crushed and foiled.

  • FPCCI felicitates newly appointed finance advisor

    FPCCI felicitates newly appointed finance advisor

    KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has felicitated Dr. Hafeez Shaikh, the newly appointed adviser to Prime Minister, for the slot of finance and revenue.

    FPCCI president Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai in a statement on Friday extended his heartiest felicitation to Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on his appointment as Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance for which he rightly deserved by virtue of his long and versatile experience of serving the country in various fields including Finance Ministership from 2010-2013; Minister for Privatization as well as Provincial Finance Minister of Sindh.

    He added that Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is a distinguished economist who remained affiliated with the World Bank during his career and possesses a vast experience of dealing with multilateral creditors such as IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank etc., and as such is well versed with Pakistan’s financial issues and economy.

    The FPCCI Chief hoped that under his ministership the country would steer out of the multi-faceted instant financial challenges being confronted by it such as balance of payment; fiscal and debt sustainability, better management of public sector entities; reforms of transparency; eliminate the menace of corruption; ease of doing business; arrest of rupee slide; reform tax administration; revive manufacturing sector; enhance access to finance etc.

    The FPCCI President was optimistic that during the tenure of Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, the coordination between the FPCCI – an apex body of trade & industry – and Ministry of Finance would be further strengthened for the benefit of both the stakeholders viz business community and the government.

    The FPCCI Chief also congratulated other Members of the Prime Minister Cabinet on assuming charge of their new portfolios including Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Science and Technology ; Firdaus Ashiq Awan, Special assistant to PM on Information & Broadcasting; Ghulam Sarwar Minister for Aviation; Ijaz Shah, Interior Minister; Shehryar Afridi, Minister of States and Frontier Regions; Azam Swati, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.

  • Freezing bank account, raid only on discovery of evasion: KCCI

    Freezing bank account, raid only on discovery of evasion: KCCI

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has recommended that harsh measures of freezing bank account and raid should only be undertaken on discovery of massive tax evasion.

    A delegation of KCCI held discussions on Budget Proposals for Federal Budget 2019-2020 with Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Jehanzaib Khan and his team at a meeting held at FBR House in Islamabad on Thursday.

    The KCCI team suggested that such harsh actions will only be taken in case of when evasion of very large amount is detected and only when concrete evidence is available rather than carrying out random raids on business entities.

    KCCI’s delegation, which was led by Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, comprised of Vice Chairmen BMG Haroon Farooki and Anjum Nisar, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda and Former Senior Vice President Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi while Dr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar Member (Inland Revenue Policy), Muhammad Javed Ghani Member (Customs Policy) and Chief of Income Tax, Chief of Sales Tax and Chief of Excise Duty and others were also present at the meeting.

    During the meeting, consensus was developed on various major issues and the FBR officials, while agreeing to most of KCCI’s budget proposals, assured to implement the same in the upcoming budget.

    The FBR Officials, while responding to KCCI’s proposal, agreed to rationalize the tax structure for import of raw materials by commercial importers and manufacturers.

    They also committed to review and curtail the discretionary powers vested to the officials of Inland Revenue which are a source of harassment and extortion of business and industrial community.

    KCCI delegation highlighted all major issues including issues pertaining to the Income Tax, Sales Tax and discretionary powers along with concessions & exemptions in various sectors of the economy which have resulted in the distortion of the tax regime.

    In his remarks, Chairman BMG & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli pointed out that the current tax regime, relevant laws and discretionary powers were being used to harass the business and industrial community and were hindering economic and industrial growth.

    “These laws have to be reformed in order to create a conducive environment for growth and liberalization of trade and also for the revival of economic activities”, he added.

    On the occasion, a comprehensive presentation was also given to the FBR team in which major taxation issues were highlighted and remedial steps were also given for ease of doing business and enhanced revenue generation.

  • Commerce Ministry Help Sought as South Africa Imposes Anti-Dumping Duty on Pakistani Cement

    Commerce Ministry Help Sought as South Africa Imposes Anti-Dumping Duty on Pakistani Cement

    KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan-South Africa Business Forum (PSABF) Mohammad Rafiq Memon has said that Pakistan’s cement exports to South Africa have suffered terribly during the last couple of years because of the anti-dumping duty imposed by the South African government that resulted in shrinking cement export to around US$100 to US$150 million which was around US$700 million prior to imposition of anti-dumping duty.

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  • Doctors, lawyers earning huge money but not on tax net: FPCCI

    Doctors, lawyers earning huge money but not on tax net: FPCCI

    KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged the government to bring professionals into tax net as they are not documented despite earning huge money.

    In its proposals for Budget 2019/2020, the apex trade body said that the professionals including doctors and lawyers should be taxed as large number of those professionals was not documented despite earning huge money.

    The FPCCI said that the government should make a comprehensive policy to encourage the people to establish industries in the country.

    The government should announce tax exemptions for 10 years to those who set up their industrial units within a time period of three years.

    The FPCCI said industrialization would help increase in employment opportunities and it would also generate more revenues for the government through indirect tax.

    Besides, industrial units should be provided cheaper electricity to make them more competitive.

    The national chamber also suggested the government to expand the tax net by documenting the economy. It said that retailers and small shopkeepers should be brought into tax net but rate of tax on them should not be more than one percent.

    Further, the FPCCI said that tax rates on immovable properties should be reduced in order to enhance valuation near to fair market value.

    The FPCCI also demanded that the sales tax should immediately be reduced from current 17 percent to 15 percent and it should further gradually reduced by one percent per annum.

    Corporate sector is heavily taxed at the rate of 29 percent which is too high and should be cut down to 25 percent. While, individual tax should be reduced as it is too much high at 20 percent.