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Tag: coronavirus

  • COVID levy on wealth of individuals, AOPs under consideration

    COVID levy on wealth of individuals, AOPs under consideration

    ISLAMABAD: In order to generate revenue in the wake of coronavirus pandemic the government is considering to impose COVID levy, which may be on the wealth of individuals and Association of Persons (AOPs), sources said.

    The sources said that the levy may be collected up to one percent of Rs100 million wealth declared by individuals / AOPs.

    The government may introduce this levy through Finance Bill, 2020.

    However, in case the income tax liability is more than the proposed levy then the chargeability of tax may under normal tax regime.

    Further, this levy may not be imposed on corporate entities.

    The COVID tax may be imposed as was introduced through Income Support Levy in 2013.

    The sources said that the revenue collection of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was adversely affected due to coronaviurs. They said that in the present scenario the government was not intending to burden the taxpayers, especially business concerns, through introduction of new taxes.

    However, through this levy may be utilities for the support the efforts to combat against the pandemic.

    The sources said that the estimated amount to be generated through this levy was may be around Rs30 billion.

  • FBR decides opening IR offices on Saturdays as coronavirus spreads rapidly

    FBR decides opening IR offices on Saturdays as coronavirus spreads rapidly

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to open its field offices on Saturdays to meet monthly target of Rs415 billion despite rapid spread of coronavirus, which already claimed lives of tax officials.

    The FBR on Thursday issued a notification directing all chief commissioners of Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs), Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) and Corporate RTOs to observe Saturdays as normal working hours till June 30, 2020.

    “In order to enhance the efforts to meet the assigned revenue target of Rs415.5 billion for the current month [June 2020], all field offices will remain open on the Saturdays with effect from June 06, 2020 till June 30, 2020,” the notification said.

    FBR sources said that at least three tax officials had died of coronavirus during the past two days. Islah ud Din, Assistant Commissioner, RTO Quetta died on coronavirus on June 04, 2020. While, two other officials of RTO Faisalabad also lost their lives due to the pandemic.

    The sources said that there were many cases in field offices some were tested positive and others were yet to gone through the test.

    It is also worth mentioning that during past 10-15 days the cases were rapidly increased in the country.

    First corona case was reported in Pakistan during February 2020 and then the Sindh province was the first to impose lockdown on March 23, 2020. This resulted in halt of business activities and subsequent affected the revenue collection efforts.

    The revenue collection in May 2020 registered 31 percent decline to Rs227 billion as the collection was Rs330 billion in same month last year.

    The FBR sources said that same collection position would prevail during June 2020 as most of the collection was to be received of May 2020. The entire month of May was also under lockdown besides long holidays for Eid-ul-Fitr.

    The FBR collected Rs518 billion in June 2019. If consider 31 percent decline in June as well the collection for June 2020 may be at Rs358 billion.

    The FBR collected Rs3,518 billion during July – May 2019/2020 as compared with Rs3,266 billion collected in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, showing growth of 7.7 percent.

  • Shopkeepers to implement ‘no mask, no service’; NCOC discusses easing lockdown

    Shopkeepers to implement ‘no mask, no service’; NCOC discusses easing lockdown

    ISLAMABAD: Market associations to be engaged for implementation of COVID-19 guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for prevention the spread of coronavirus.

    This was discussed at a meeting of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) held on chaired by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umer.

    Umer said that the shopkeepers should strictly implement “no mask, no service” policy.

    Asad Umer directed the NCOC to concentrate on the plan to ease the lockdown while strictly implementing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs).
    The forum suggested taking strict punitive action on violation of SOPs.

    It must be noted that NCOC is working to devise a long and short term strategy on COVID-19 titled “Living with the Pandemic”.

    Asad Umar directed the pursuing of a vigorous mass awareness campaign to highlight the measures taken by the government to contain COVID-19 and underscore its achievements in this regard.

    The campaign should focus on ensuring behaviour change of the people regarding COVID-19 while also underlining that the main aim of the government was to safeguard the people from the pandemic.

    Expressing satisfaction over the availability of ventilators in countrywide hospitals, Asad Umar directed the concerned to provide latest information about the availability of beds and other related facilities for the information of the infected people.

    The forum was told that the Resource Management System (RMS) would be rolled out across country from the 1st of June.

    Under this system, the hospitals would also share the details of local resources available to them, total admitted patients, denial of admissions, no of beds and ventilators available, as well as other facilities being provided to them.

    Dr Zafar Mirza said that his Ministry was planning to mobilise retired doctors of public sector hospitals, young doctors, doctors on house jobs, and final year medical students to cope with the situation.

    Moreover, new doctors and paramedics would be recruited through walk-in interviews. The forum was apprised that the provinces had been asked to ensure community mobilisation and set up call Centres in their respective areas by June 15.

    The forum was told that Sindh and Balochistan governments were not agreeing on imposing smart lockdown. Instead, they preferred the home quarantine policy.

    The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Brig (Retd) Syed Ijaz Ahmed Shah, Minister for National Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam, Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yousaf and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza.

  • NCOC recommends shutting educational institutions till August

    NCOC recommends shutting educational institutions till August

    ISLAMABAD: National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday recommended that the educational institutions should be kept closed till August as the summer season and pandemic would be at its peak on July 15, 2020.

    The NCOC sought provinces’ feedback on negative list aiming to finalize the recommendations of opening some more sectors of the economy halted due to COVID-19 outbreak.

    A meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar was held at the NCOC to discuss the long and short term strategy on COVID-19 titled “Living with the Pandemic”.

    The forum emphasized the need to revise its communication strategy for better messaging and public outreach on the COVID-19 issue.

    Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said that the restaurants under the negative list would have to completely close their services or partially initiate its functions with only take away services.

    The forum insisted that the marriage halls should only be allowed with limited number of guests, one dish and strict compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs).

    Asad Umar directed the concerned authorities to calculate economic impacts of coronavirus pandemic in the first quarter of current calendar year.

    The NCOC stressed that capacity building and restructuring of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination should be done as per approval by the federal cabinet.

    The forum was also apprised that the critical care resources would be increased owing to the surging risk of the pandemic.

    The forum was told that the testing capacity of COVID-19 was being increased to 672,000 tests.

    Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Khusroo Bakhtiar said that National Integrated Management System should be put in place for better coordination between the federal and the provinces.

    Dr Zafar Mirza said that although wearing of masks was mandatory, no punitive action was being taken against the violators.

    The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Brig (R) Syed Ejaz Ahmad Shah, Minister for National Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam, Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, SAPM for Information and Broadcasting and Chairman China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Lt. Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yousaf, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Pakistan Tania Aidrus.

  • World Bank approves $500 million to help Pakistan’s COVID-19 emergency response

    World Bank approves $500 million to help Pakistan’s COVID-19 emergency response

    WASHINGTON: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved today a $500 million program to help Pakistan improve access to quality healthcare and education, support economic opportunities for women, and strengthen social safety nets as the country braces to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Securing Human Investments to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) program will support policy reforms to help Pakistan’s COVID-19 emergency response and protect human capital investments, a statement said.

    It will support greater coordination between provinces and federal authorities to immunize millions of children and reduce their risks of contracting polio and other diseases.

    SHIFT also improves targeted safety net programs that will benefit 12 million people impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, both at the federal and provincial levels.

    “The global COVID-19 pandemic is impacting day-to-day life in Pakistan – not solely from economic disruptions but also additional stress on public services that jeopardize human capital accumulation,” said Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.

    “This program underscores the criticality of universal healthcare and social protection services that are durable to exogenous shocks such as Pakistan is facing now.”

    SHIFT supports three policy reforms aimed at building Pakistan’s workforce and improving social safety-net programs, which are:

    (i) increase the quality of essential services, especially primary health care and equitable access to basic education, and civil registration and vital statistics,

    (ii) recognize women’s economic contributions and support participation in the labor force through appropriate working conditions, and

    (iii) improve efficiencies in safety nets for COVID-19 response, and strengthen the effectiveness national and federal safety net programs in the short to medium term.

    “Pakistan’s ability to mitigate socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 depends on how quickly and efficiently social safety net programs can reach those most in need,” said Cristina Panasco Santos, Task Team Leader for the program.

    “This program supports alignment efforts between Ehsaas, safety nets provincial programs to ensure that the most vulnerable and affected populations are identified and receive assistance.”

    The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response.

  • SBP allows reimbursement claims for payment of wages, salaries

    SBP allows reimbursement claims for payment of wages, salaries

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday decided to allow reimbursement claims for those business concerns, which paid wages and salaries through own resources.

    The central bank through a notification on April 10, 2020 launched refinance scheme for payment of wages and salaries to the workers and employees of business concerns considering the financial impact due to coronavirus and subsequent lockdown.

    The SBP said that those borrowers who had applied for the facility in the month of April, 2020 but could not get approval in April due to the formalities were allowed to claim reimbursement of April salaries and wages paid from their own sources.

    It has been decided to allow similar facilitation for the salaries of May 2020.

    “Hence, businesses, who applied for the facility under the captioned Schemes in May 2020, can pay wages and salaries from their own sources and claim reimbursement of the same after their financing is approved.”

    Further, to facilitate those borrowers who could not apply in month of April, 2020 and paid wages and salaries of April from their own sources can also claim reimbursement under the captioned schemes provided all other terms and conditions including not laying off the employees are met.

  • FBR takes notice of closure of field offices

    FBR takes notice of closure of field offices

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken serious notice of without approval closure of field offices for prevention against COVID-19 (coronavirus).

    In an official notice issued on Tuesday, the FBR said that it had been observed with grave concern that field offices, unilaterally decided for closure of offices without approval of the Board while dealing with cases of COVID-19.

    “This action not only causes embarrassment to the board but also leads to interruption in service delivery of the organization,” the FBR said.

    The FBR said that although the tax body places a premium on the safety of its human resource, however, it is important that while taking precautionary steps, simultaneous measures are also taken to ensure uninterrupted provision of services to the taxpayers.

    The FBR directed all the field formations to ensure close liaison with Admin Wing, FBR and in future, while dealing with matters related to COVID-19 pandemic or any decision regarding closure or other admin related matters, the same shall only be taken with prior approval of Member (Admin).

  • SECP issues guidelines for license renewal amid COVID-19

    SECP issues guidelines for license renewal amid COVID-19

    ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has issued guidelines for license renewal in order to facilitate companies considering difficulties due to COVID-19.

    The SECP issued Circular No. 19/2020 for extension in time for renewal of licenses due to COVID-19.

    The regulator said that the COVID-19 (coronavirus) had affected many businesses around the globe and had been declared as pandemic.

    In order to facilitate the shareholders/directors/employees during this ongoing pandemic, the SECP issued the guidelines regarding renewal of their licenses, issued in pursuance of section 42 of the Company Law.

    The SECP said that the companies whose license were due for renewal before the month of February 2020, and had not applied for renewal, their license shall be revoked in accordance with the provision of Section 42(5) of the Companies Act, 2017.

    The SECP further said that the companies whose license had been expired in the months of February, March, April and May 2020 but had not applied for its renewal would continue to carry on their business and their license would not be revoked till June 30, 2020. However, upon receipt of their applications, license shall be renewed from the date of expiry of their existing license.

    The regulator further said that the companies, which had applied for renewal of their license either before or after February 01, 2020 and certain deficiencies were also communicated to them, were required to respond to the quarries latest by May 30, 2020, failing which their license would be revoked.

    “Companies, which do not find any difficulty in complying with the requirements of the renewal of their license, may apply in a routine manner,” the SECP said.

  • Karachi Chamber demands lifting lockdown completely as corona cases rise above 40,000

    Karachi Chamber demands lifting lockdown completely as corona cases rise above 40,000

    KARACHI: Business community has demanded complete ease in lockdown on Sunday as cases of coronavirus have increased to over 40,000 in the country.

    The government has started easing lockdown since last Monday but the cases of coronavirus increase at faster pace. The corona cases have increased to 40,151 till May 17, 2020.

    Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) & Former President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Siraj Kassam Teli in a statement urged the Sindh Government to completely do away with the ongoing lockdown at least during the last week of Ramadan ul Mubarak in which all the shops and shopping malls be permitted to operate 24-hours a day, which would not only help in dealing with the overcrowding issue at various commercial markets due to limited timings but would enable the small traders/ shopkeepers to recover some of the previous losses suffered by them because of the prolonged lockdown that began from March 23.

    Siraj Teli stressed that the lockdown has to be completely relaxed during the last six days from Monday to Saturday before Eid so that Karachiites could visit commercial markets without any hassle, haste or worries while the shopkeepers could also deal with their customers in an uncrowded atmosphere which was really needed to ensure social distancing, one of the key precautionary measure required to effectively contain further spread of coronavirus pandemic.

    “Subsequently, the lockdown can once again be fully re-imposed during Eid-ul-Fitr holidays and up to May 31 as announced by Sindh Government and from June 1, 2020 onwards, the Sindh government, after reviewing the overall situation, may follow the same formula in which small traders/ shopkeepers are allowed to operate for four days a week from Monday to Thursday and the lockdown remains active on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

    While appreciating numerous steps taken by Sindh Government since the imposition of lockdown to prevent spread of coronavirus pandemic particularly the hard work by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chairman BMG regretted that it was really unfortunate to see that during last week when the lockdown was eased, small traders and shopkeepers breached their commitments made to Sindh Government by grossly ignoring the mutually agreed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

    “The Karachi Chamber, being the premier Chamber and actual representative of the entire business & Industrial community, is not only too concerned about the losses suffered by small traders, shopkeepers and the industrialists but also equally worried about the lives of the masses as we cannot afford to run our businesses at the cost of the lives of the innocent public, who could become victim of the life-threatening virus anytime, hence it is the moral and social responsibility of everyone to adopt the SOPs”, Siraj Teli said, while appealing the Small Traders and Shopkeepers from each and every commercial market across Karachi to strictly adhere to all the SOPs at any cost during the remaining days of the ongoing shopping season of Eid ul Fitr as any negligence towards these SOPs would create a disastrous situation, which was already too bad as the number of COVID-19 infected people continues to rise across the country.

    “Meanwhile, the citizens must also be very careful and take necessary precautionary measures so that we all could collectively battle against the life threatening coronavirus pandemic and save our beloved country from further disaster”, he added.

    Siraj Teli further commented, “Since day one, I have been reiterating that Coronavirus is not going to go anywhere and it is going to stay with us for the time being. It has become part of our lives and we will have to live with it. We cannot afford to keep the businesses closed forever so the government and the business community will have to jointly devise ways and means of how to safely get back to daily routine life in the presence of the virus.”

    He was of the opinion that all the SOPs were not just limited to the shopping season of Ramadan only but these must become part of our daily lives and routine business activities.

    He said, “The Sindh government has strived really hard during the last almost two months to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic. We cannot put all these efforts at stake hence, the shopkeepers must strictly ensure social distancing and take precautionary measures within and outside their business premises which is not only in favor of their own lives and businesses but also in the larger interest of the country. Every single life is very important so we all have to maintain strict discipline and adopt the SOPs which would help us in continuing our businesses in the presence of the virus”.

  • Not a single car sold in April 2020

    Not a single car sold in April 2020

    KARACHI: Automobile manufacturers have witnessed worst-ever month as not a single car was sold during April 2020 owing to lockdown imposed by the federal and provincial governments to prevent coronavirus pandemic.

    The lockdowns due to COVID-19 imposed by the Federal and Provincial governments in the later half of Mar-2020 till date has resulted in no car sales during Apr-2020, as reported by Pakistan Automobile Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

    The lockdowns has resulted in closure of plant operations along with car dealerships across the country.

    As a result, in 10MFY20 car sales have declined by 52 percent YoY.

    Honda Car (HCAR) sales are down by 64 percent YoY, followed by Indus Motors (INDU) and Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) with declines of 54 percent YoY and 47 percent YoY, respectively.

    ATLH (motorbikes) too recorded nominal sales of 2,783 units compared to pre-COVID sales of around 100k units.

    Keeping in view the importance of the Wheat harvesting season, the governments allowed the tractor industry to resume their operations in mid-April-2020.

    The tractor sales during Mar-2020 recorded a decline of 63 percent YoY and 30 percent MoM.

    Al Ghazi Tractors (AGTL) reported an increase of 19 percent MoM in its sales, while Millat Tractors (MTL) sales declined by 51 percent MoM. Last month, MTL sales were up MoM (+2 percent) whereas AGTL recorded a MoM decline (-22 percent MoM).