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Federal cabinet approves money whitening scheme

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved a scheme to whiten money through declaration of concealed / hidden assets.

Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting of the federal cabinet. The cabinet approved the asset Declaration Scheme, 2019 besides discussing a 17 point agenda.

Attorney General for Pakistan made a detailed presentation to Cabinet about the progress made in cases pending in the International Courts/Arbitration forums and suggested future course of action.

The Cabinet was informed that from 2008 to 2018, the government of Pakistan has paid an amount of $100 million in lawyers’ fee in various cases while another $10 million is to be paid this year in lawyers’ fee.

It was decided that legal advisors will be appointed in the main ministries including Ministry of Power, Petroleum, Communications, etc.

Besides, measures would be taken to strengthen the office of the Attorney General to enhance its capacity to vet contracts/agreement.

The cabinet discussed at length the prices of essential items The Secretary Planning inform the Cabinet about the measures being taking to eliminate middle man and providing relief to consumers.

The Cabinet approved renewal of Regular Public Transport, Charter and Aerial Work Licenses of M/s PIACL.

The Cabinet approved constitution of Board of Directors of PTDC. The Cabinet ratified Trade Agreement between the Governments of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People’s Democratic of Algeria.

The cabinet approved Memorandum of Understanding between National School of Public Policy (NSPP) and National Management Institute (NMI), Cairo.

The Cabinet approved Property Tax Exemption in respect of Benevolent Fund Building, Zero Point Islamabad.

The Cabinet approved appointment of Director on Board Directors of Deposit Protection Corporation.

Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services briefed the Cabinet about progress made in reduction of Maximum Retail Prices of various drugs resulting in saving of Rs. 09 billion to consumers.

The Cabinet approved salary package for Members of the Information Commission. The Cabinet approved secondment of Major General Omer Ahmed Bokhari, as DG Pakistan Ranger (Sindh).

The Cabinet approved appointment of Ms. Tasneem Sultana, District and Session Judge as Judge, Special Court (Control of Narcotics Substances-I), Karachi. Appointment of Judge, Special Court (Control of Narcotics Substances-), Quetta was also approved.

The cabinet granted exemption of duties/taxes on equipment donated by China. The equipment will be used for anti-narcotics efforts.

The cabinet approved recruitment Rules of the post of Chairman of Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad. The Cabinet approved policy on provision of Consular Assistance to detained and imprisoned Pakistanis abroad.

May 14, 2019
FPCCI invites FBR chairman for budget proposals discussions

KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has invited Shabbar Zaidi, Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to discuss budget proposals.

A statement issued on Tuesday said that the President FPCCI Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai alongwith Abdul Waheed Sheikh, Ijaz Khan Abbasi, Qurban Ali and Shireen Arshad Khan, Vice Presidents of FPCCI visited the office of Shabbar Zaidi congratulating him on assuming the charge of Chairman FBR.

During the meeting the President FPCCI discussed various measures and proposals particularly for enhancement in number of tax payers and to increase their confidence level to achieve the set targets of revenues.

Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai further said that misuse of powers by the tax authorities is creating trust deficit and lack of confidence.

The FPCCI Chief hailed the prompt decisions taken by the FBR’s Chairman in facilitating and providing relief to the taxpayers such as “Suspension of raid on any premises of any existing taxpayer without prior approval of Member IR – Operation and Chairman FBR”.

Moreover, the FPCCI President also appreciated the Chairman FBR for not suspending any Active Taxpayer from Active Taxpayer List unless there is personal interaction with the assessee 24 hours before suspension and monitoring himself the list of all cases of suspension. The President of FPCCI also lauded Shabbar Zaidi, Chairman, FBR for not freezing bank account without prior intimation and notice to the bank account holder. The FBR Chief further said that the real estate is fast growing sector of the economy and FBR will devise various reforms. The tax amnesty scheme is also under process and will be announced soon, he stated.

The President FPCCI Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai invited the Chairman FBR to visit FPCCI Headquarter at Karachi and its Capital Office Islamabad to discuss FPCCI’s budget proposals and to share vision to revamp the tax system and machinery which is now the need of hour to be shifted in effective automated system to facilitate the taxpayers.

The Chairman FBR agreed to visit the FPCCI soon to get feedback and first-hand information from FPCCI members and apprised them of FBR’s stance / point of view.

May 14, 2019
Stock market eases amid buying activities

KARACHI: The stock market ended down 15 points on Tuesday despite last hour buying activities.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 33,885 points as against 33,900 points showing a decline of 15 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market improved slightly and although the index oscillated between -209 points and +167 points (~350 points).

Last half hour of trading, as has been the case lately, was again interesting which saw buying activity in index drivers such as ENGRO, but also saw buying in SEARL, ABL that pulled up the index. Cement sector led the volumes table with 17.6 million shares, followed by Power (11 million) and Banks (8.8 million).

Scrip wise activity shows KEL topping the volumes with 7 million shares followed by UNITY and MLCF.

Cement sector has seen attrition since past week and today was no different which saw key cement scrips trading at lower circuits for instance PIOC, MLCF, DGKC etc. Collectively, Banks and E&P scrips performed well today, whereas O&GMCs (PSO), and Cement contributed to the downside.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+117 points), Banks (+80 points), Power (+30 points), O&GMCs (-64 points), Cement (-39 points), Fertilizer (-25 points), Pharma (-20 points), Textile (-20 points).

Volumes registered a slight decline of 13 percent DoD to reach 105.7 million as against 121.2 million. Average traded value also declined by 19 percent to reach US$ 30.3 million as against US$ 37.5 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, UNITY, MLCF, PIBTL and TRG, which formed 28 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+68 points), HUBC (+27 points), POL (+27 points), UBL (+23 points) and MCB (+19pt). Stocks that contributed negatively include PSO (-30 points), DAWH (-27 points), DGKC (-15 points), COLG (-12 points) and FFC (-10 points).

May 14, 2019
Rupee maintains level against dollar

KARACHI – The Pakistani Rupee demonstrated stability against the US Dollar in a day of range-bound trading activities on Tuesday.
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May 14, 2019
President asks business community to pay all taxes for curtailing budget deficit

President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, has called upon the business community to fulfill their tax obligations, emphasizing that this would play a pivotal role in reducing the budget deficit and enabling greater allocation of funds for development projects. His remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Regional Office, Lahore, in Islamabad on Monday.
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May 14, 2019
FBR advised making declaration of fund source mandatory for foreign remittances

KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been advised to make it mandatory the declaration of source of funds for foreign remittances.

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in its tax proposals for budget 2019/2020 recommended changes to Section 111(4) of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 regarding foreign exchange remitted from outside Pakistan.

The association recommended amendment:

“to any amount of foreign exchange remitted from outside Pakistan through normal banking channels that is encashed into rupees by a scheduled bank and a certificate from such bank is produced to that effect … and a declaration along-with evidence of the source of funds.”

It said that this will continue to promote the inflow of foreign exchange remittances towards the country while stopping the misuse of the provision to whiten/launder black monies and de-incentivizing genuine tax paying businesses.

“This way, the ‘non enquiry’ clause which has been extensively abused, will be abolished sans the current monetary limit while still retaining the tax relief for foreign exchange remittance.

The ACCA further said that the minimum tax on turnover is charged irrespective of the net profit or loss.

This often gives rise to a situation where businesses end up paying double taxes on their revenues and profits as well as loss making businesses facing additional cash-flow pressures by paying this tax.

The current rate of 1.25 percent applicable generally except for a few sectors, should be brought down to 0.4 percent.

The now deleted exception in case of a gross loss needs to be reinstated in line with the principles of natural justice and equity.

This will facilitate the business eco-system contributing to a growth in GPD which can lead to increased revenue collections for the treasury.

The association further highlighted Section 138 and 140 of the Ordinance regarding recovery of tax through attachment of bank accounts and/or property or arrest.

It said that currently, the allowance for the commissioner to attach the property of the taxpayer before expiry of notice period on “satisfaction” of the commissioner regarding possible removal, cancellation or disposal of attachable property is misused in many cases to harass the businesses.

This change can bring an end to this, increase taxpayers’ trust in the tax apparatus and improve the ease of doing business in the country.

“Any such attachment of any movable/immovable property before expiry of the notice period may only be authorized by the Commissioner in the presence of objective evidence, which should be shared with the taxpayer.”

May 14, 2019
SRB suspends sales tax registration of four freight forwarders

KARACHI: Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has suspended sales tax registration of four freight forwarders for defaulting payment and non-compliance of filing sales tax returns.

The SRB issued suspension notices to the following freight forwarders:

Muhammad Rafique (M/s. Rafique Brothers)

M/s. Prime Ocean Cargo Management Company (Pvt) Limited

M/s. Shahnoor Weavers

Muhammad Tahir Imam (M/s. ST Logistics International)

The SRB said that Muhammad Rafique (M/s. Rafique Brothers) had failed to make payment of Sindh Sales Tax on Services for the period from July 2011 till to date. Further the company also failed to file return electronically for the tax periods February 2017 to December 2018 and July 2011 to April 2013.

The SRB asked the company that the notice would be revoked in case it takes remedial action by May 24 by making payment and filing true and correct returns for the said periods. Otherwise the case shall be proceeded for cancellation in case remedial action was not taken by May 25, 2019.

In case of M/s. Prime Ocean Cargo Management Company (Pvt) Limited, the SRB said that the company had failed to file returns for the period July 2016, December 2015, March 2015, June 2013, March 2013, September 2012, August 2012, June 2012, May 2012, April 2012, March 2012, February 2012, January 2012, December 2011, October 2011, September 2011, August 2011, July 2011.

The SRB directed the company to take remedial action by May 24, 2019. “In case of non-satisfactory response or failure to take remedial measures as suggested above on or before May 25, 2019 the case shall be further preceded for cancellation of registration wit the SRB.”

In the case of M/s. Shahnoor Weaver, the SRB said that the company had failed to make payment since July 2011 till date. Further, the company had failed to e-filer sales tax returns for tax periods from July 2011 to June 2015 and from August 15 to December 2018.

The SRB directed the company to take remedial action by May 26, 2019. “In case of non-satisfactory response or failure to take remedial measures as suggested on or before May 27, 2019, the case shall be further preceded for cancellation of registration with the SRB.”

In the fourth case of Muahmmad Thair Imam (M/s. ST Logistics International), the SRB said that the company had failed to make payment of sales tax on services from July 2011 till date. Further, the company also failed to e-filer sales tax returns for the said period.

The SRB has directed the company to take remedial action by May 23, 2019. “In case o non-satisfactory response or failure to take remedial measures as suggested on or before May 24, 2019 the case shall be further preceded for cancellation of registration wit SRB,” it added.

May 14, 2019
Pakistan Customs launches swift consignment clearance system to improve ease of doing business

KARACHI: Pakistan Customs on Monday launched the swift consignment clearance software for improving ease of doing business and trading across the border indices of the country.

The system namely ‘WeBOC Global’ was inaugurated by Member Customs Dr Jawwad Uwais Agha at Custom house, Karachi.

He introduced the key features of the newly developed ICT system which was attended by a large number of the senior officers of Pakistan Custom and members of the WeBOC-Glo Project team.

The new version of Customs clearance system was deployed at early in the morning May 13, 2019 which has immediately replaced the previous version of WeBOC clearance system.

This will be a modern and technologically advanced version of WeBOC which is an end to end automated online goods clearance system home grown by Pakistan Customs in 2011.

With the introduction of new WeBOC system, the Custom clearance system of Pakistan will enter into the club of modern, upgraded and technologically advanced Custom clearance system of the world, the Member said.

The WeBOC-Glo in addition to new modules and functionalities will be plugging the deficiencies of earlier clearance system pointed out during the course of time in internal reviews and ICT Gap Analysis by the World Bank.

Components of Release 1.0 of the WeBOC-Glo were introduced by Iftikhar Ahmad, Collector/Convener of the project which included 13 modules and functionalities.

The major modules included:

(1) the Development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with Terminal Operators for Export LCL Cargo, which will reduce dwell time at ports

(2) the Quota Management of Bulk Export Cargo, which will facilitate auto debiting of assigned quota,

(3) the establishment of IT interface with Ministry of Foreign Affairs for automation of Exemption Certificates,

(4) the availability of WeBOC Glo on Chrome and Edge to provide convenience to users,

(5) the enhanced Security Features, to safeguard the User IDs and relevant data of importers /exporters,

(6) the unified Screens for MIS Officers, to ensure speedy processing,

(7) the search engine for TARIFF and relevant SROs to empower users in Tariff and import/export policy information for correct filling and assessment of GDs,

(8) the update on Containers Status, to allow traders the facility to keep track of containers,

(9) Improved User Interface, aimed at making the system more user friendly and less time consuming and

(10) the Glo Insight which strengthens the statistical Scrutiny and monitoring of Customs transactions through business intelligence and data analysis tools for informed decisions making.

In addition to above, the WeBOC-Glo will be instrumental in closure of old Customs clearance system by automating areas that had remained outside its scope so far.

(1) the Export Processing Zone, whose import and export clearance along with the role and functions of EPZA have been automated for the first time,

(2) the GD Filing Without NTN, which will facilitate individual importers, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) promoting e-Commerce in Pakistan,

(3) the Exceptional GD Filing, which caters to all scenarios where auto clearance were held up due to peculiar taxation regimes on items or specific orders of superior courts.

The team has been further instructed by Dr Agha to plan launch of Release-2of WeBOC Glo by the first week of July, 2019.

The Release-2 will include further important modules like DTRE, Bulk Exports and Exports through Courier.

With the development of these modules all the processes related to export will be fully automated which will definitely facilitate export sectors.

Release-2 will also include E-Auction Module, for auction of confiscated goods in line with modern concepts of Auction.

Oil imports contribute the major share in Imports Bill. All the processes like Import, storage, transportation and transit of Oil will also be covered in Release-2 Similarly PCA Entity based Audit module will also be part of it, which will dramatically enhance money trial analysis and be handy in detection of money laundering.

Initial work has already been done on these modules and they are under different stages of development.

Some less important modules will be launched in Release-3 by Mid September which will complete automation of all the Customs processes under WeBOC-Glo.

Earlier, Dr Jawwad Agha conceived the idea of up gradation and functionally advanced new Customs system and had put in place a two tier setup, the WeBOC-Glo Domain team and Oversight and Approval Team, in December, 2018.

In view of highly technical nature of the task officers having vast professional experience and well grounded in automated work environment were grouped together.

The team lead by Collector Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad (project team leader) included: Additional Collectors Shafqat Niazi, Sanaullah Abro, Ms Mona Mehfooz, Ali Zaman Gardezi and Deputy Collector Ms Nausheen Riaz Khan.

The project team leader said that packed and strict timeline was given to undertake the Businesses Process Re-Engineering (BPR), development of new modules and functionalities of the WeBOC Glo.

He added that the project team had to put in long hours on weekend, over and above their regular work assignments, to meet the deadlines, while Agha continuously monitored the progress and provided his full support to project team. Within short time of four months, WeBOC-Glo project team under guidance of oversight and Approval team, consisting of senior officers of Customs succeeded in accomplishing the task of development of 13 different modules and functionalities of new version.

User Acceptance Tests (UATs) with relevant stakeholders have been completed too. The PRAL’s Business Analysis and software Development Units provided able resource support and remained instrumental in the achievement.

With the launch of the WeBOC-Glo, the Customs department moves further ahead as the leading public sector organization mag use of modern technology for hassle free public service delivery.

The system ensures transparency, efficiency, professionalism and further reduces the interaction with taxpayer besides providing tech ability for future integration with artificial intelligence for RMS analysis.

May 13, 2019
OGDCL discovers huge deposits of gas in Sindh

KARACHI: Oil and Gad Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has discovered huge amount of gas at exploratory well Mangrio 01, District Tando Muhammad Khan, Sindh Province.

In a statement on Monday, the company said that the structure of Mangrio Well 01 was drilled and tested using OGDCL’s in house expertise.

The well was drilled down to the depth of 2676 meters. The well has tested 10.44 MMSCFD gas, 120 BPD condensate through choke size 32/64” at Wellhead flowing pressure 2085 psi from lower Guru B-Sand.

The discovery of Mangrio Well is the result of aggressive exploratory strategy adopted by the company.

“It has opened a new avenue and would add to the hydrocarbon reserves base of the OGDCL and of the country,” it added.

May 13, 2019
Secured transactions registry established in SECP

In a significant development aimed at improving access to credit for small businesses and the agriculture sector, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has officially established the Secured Transaction Registry (STR). This registry will record charges and security interests created by entities on their movable assets, facilitating easier and more secure access to loans.
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May 13, 2019