Pakistan has taken a significant step towards strengthening digital ties with Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Building a Cross-border E-commerce Platform.
(more…)Tag: e-Commerce
-
Tarin assures support for e-commerce industry growth
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday reaffirmed the government’s strong commitment to the expansion and facilitation of the e-Commerce sector in Pakistan, viewing it as a key driver of future economic growth and digital transformation.
(more…) -
Online market places to collect 2% withholding sales tax
ISLAMABAD: The online market places have been brought into the tax net as through the Finance Act, 2021 the owner of online market place has been made withholding agent and made responsible for collecting withholding tax at two per cent on sales made through digital platform.
A new definition has been including in the Sales Tax Act, 1990 through the Finance Act, 2021, which stated: online market place includes an electronic interface such as a market place, e-commerce platform, portal or similar means which facilitate sale of goods, including third party sale, in any of the following manner, namely:—
(a) by controlling the terms and conditions of the sale;
(b) authorizing the charge to the customers in respect of the payment for the supply; or
(c) ordering or delivering the goods.
In the Eleventh Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, the owner of online market place shall collect two per cent of gross value of supplies from persons other than active taxpayers.
However, the law explained that the provision of this entry would be effective from the date as notified by the FBR.
-
Online market places to withhold sales tax from July 01
ISLAMABAD: Online market places will collect sales tax on supply of goods and services through digital platforms on behalf of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from July 01, 2021, sources said on Monday.
The sources said that through Finance Bill, 2021 the term online marketplace was introduced.
According to KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. Chartered Accountants said that COVID-19 had catapulted the universe into adopting truly digital lifestyle and Pakistan has also seen drastic growth in e-Commerce.
As a way forward to clearer taxation policy in this sector, there have been many changes in Pakistani Taxation laws.
The Finance Bill proposes to insert new clause 18A to Sales Tax Act, 1990 defining the term “Online marketplace” to include an electronic interface such as a market place, e-commerce platform, portal or similar means which facilitate sale of goods, including third party sale, in any of the following manner, namely:
(a) by controlling the terms and conditions of the sale;
(b) authorizing the charge to the customers in respect of the payment for the supply; or
(c)ordering or delivering the goods.
Furthermore, Bill proposes to insert clause 3(1)(c) requiring the person running online market place to charge sales tax on the value of supply of goods through that online market place, whether the goods are owned by him or not.
-
Mobile, internet banking transactions grow more than double: SBP
KARACHI: The value of mobile banking, internet banking and e-commerce transactions all more than doubled during the third quarter of 2020/2021 when compared with the same period last year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Monday.
Encouragingly, the number of internet and mobile banking users has also been increasing significantly, up 30.5 percent and 20.3 percent respectively during Q3FY21 over same period last year.
The State Bank of Pakistan released its Quarterly Payment System Review (QPSR) for the third quarter, January – March 2021, of the fiscal year 2020-21 today, which shows strong growth in the space of digital financial transactions in the country.
During Q3FY21, bank customers performed 309.5 million e-Banking transactions, valuing Rs22.5 trillion and registering growth rates of 31 percent by volume and 29 percent by value over the same quarter last year.
Most of the uptake in e-banking transactions was seen in internet banking and mobile banking transactions. The volume of mobile banking transactions reached 51.7 million, (up 144 percent) valuing Rs1.3 trillion (up 178 percent) compared to 21.2 million transactions valuing 467.5 billion in the same quarter, last year.
The number of registered mobile phone banking users reached 9.8 million showing an increase of 20 per cent from the same period last year. Similarly, 24.5 million internet banking transactions valuing Rs1.5 trillion were recorded during this period compared to Rs0.75 trillion in the same quarter last year, registering a growth of 74 per cent by volume and 109 per cent by value.
In response to SBP’s measures to incentivize the installation of Point of Sale (POS) machines to facilitate digital payments through debit or credit cards in the country, the number of POS machines have shown a substantial growth of 37 percent when compared with the same period last year. On these POS machines, 25 million card-based transactions amounting to Rs124 billion were processed showing an increase of 28 percent by volume and 21 percent by value compared to the same quarter last year.
The increase in the number of POS machines this year can be attributed to the measures that SBP took early last year which included the reduction in interchange fee on debit card payments thus improving the share of acquirers from overall merchant discount rate (MDR).
Non-cash based e-commerce transactions also increased substantially in the country during Q3FY21; e-commerce merchants processed 5.6 million transactions digitally amounting to Rs15.3 billion compared to 2.8 million transactions valuing Rs7.1 billion in Q3FY20, showing an increase of 100 percent by volume and 115 percent by value from the last year.
Total number of payment cards issued in the country stood at 44.5 million out of which 28.6 million are debit cards and 1.7 million are credit cards. Further, 6.4 million social welfare cards have been issued by banks on behalf of BISP, EOBI, Ehsaas and other government organizations and schemes.
It is worth mentioning that during the last few years, digital payment transactions in Pakistan have shown significant growth, reflecting the impact of favorable policies of SBP to incentivize customers.
Expansion in digital payment infrastructure as well as emergence of new payment aggregators have also played their role in this growth. In line with its declared objectives to digitize payment and financial services, SBP will continue promoting digitization in the country and expects the industry to e reciprocate the efforts that will in turn increase convenience for people of Pakistan.
-
Ministry issues import, export of e-commerce rules
ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce has issued rules for assessment and clearance of imported or exported goods through e-commerce.
The ministry issued SRO 14(I)/2021 for the application of the rules that will apply for assessment and clearance of imported or exported goods of business to consumer (B2C) transactions through authorized dealer via designated customs stations.
However, these rules will not apply on the following goods:
(a) Goods requiring testing of samples;
(b) Animals;
(c) Perishable goods;
(d) Food stuff including beverages;
(e) Medicines of any sort;
(f) Alcoholic drinks;
(g) Restricted items subject to fulfillment of import and export regulations under the relevant law;
(h) Prohibited under sections 15 and 16 of the Customs Act, 1969 along with allied law; and
(i) Import and export goods which are intended for clearance from customs stations or airport other than at which arrived.
The ministry defined the e-commerce as buying and selling of goods or services including digital products through electronic transactions conducted via the internet or other computer mediated (online communication) networks.
According to the rules, the registered courier shall file the prior arrival manifest of e-commerce goods. The risk management system shall be applied at the manifest filing stage.
A consumer shall provide the details of shipment and e-commerce importer. E-commerce goods of the consumer shall be cleared upon provision of information prior to the manifest or post arrival of the goods.
The goods declaration shall be filed by the registered courier on behalf of e-commerce importer and exporter on the specified type of goods declaration for the purpose of e-commerce.
The goods shall be cleared upon examination and assessment through WeBOC system upon decision by the RMS.
Duty and taxes shall be paid by the e-commerce importer and exporter through methods, included: self payment by the e-commerce importer and exporter through a unique payment ID; or payment through authorized registered courier.
-
E-commerce transactions through debit cards up by 152 percent
KARACHI: The online payment through debit cards for e-commerce registered phenomenal growth of 152 percent in first quarter of current fiscal year, according to data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
The online payment for e-commerce increased to Rs11.1 billion in the first quarter (July – September) 2020/2021 as compared with Rs4.4 billion in the same quarter of the last fiscal year.
The volume of transactions also registered around 200 percent during the period under review. According to SBP data the volume of debt card transactions increased to 3.9 million during first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared with 1.3 million in the same quarter of the last fiscal year.
The total e-commerce transactions registered 81 percent growth during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The value of e-commerce transactions (payment through debt, credit and pre-paid cards) increased to Rs24.1 billion during the quarter under review as compared with Rs13.5 billion in the same quarter of the last fiscal year.
The e-commerce transactions through credit card increased to Rs12.9 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2020/2021 as compared with Rs9.1 billion in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year.
-
SBP develops regulatory framework for cross border e-commerce
ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has developed regulatory framework for facilitation of cross border B2C e-commerce.
However, this will be adopted after integration with the e-Commerce to be developed by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in WeBOC (Web Based One Customs).
The officials of SBP shared this information at the second meeting of National e-Commerce Council, chaired by Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment on Thursday.
All of the nominated members of the Council, including State Bank of Pakistan, Ministry of IT & Telecom, Federal Board of Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, National Information Technology Board, Provincial Departments of Industries and Commerce, Provincial Revenue Authorities, Pakistan Post, Federal and Provincial Consumer Rights Commission/Councils, Telecom companies, online marketplaces, Fintech sector representatives, Freelancers, Banking sector and Logistics companies attended the meeting.
The Advisor briefed the participants about the progress achieved in the past months on the e-Commerce Policy, since its approval on October 01, 2019.
He appreciated the coordinated efforts of public and private sector for the effective implementation of the policy.
Talking to the participants, Razak Dawood underlined that the trend of e-commerce has increased rapidly in the recent years with the development and easy accessibility of the internet.
He added that, due to the covid-19 pandemic, the importance of e-Commerce has increased manifolds, making it an extremely vital sector for the economy.
He stressed the importance of directing the resources towards digital adoption and connecting the SMEs to e-platforms across the globe, while exploring new market access opportunities for them.
Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authorities apprised the participants of the incentives being announced for Digital and e-Commerce sector in the provincial budgets to support these sectors during these challenging circumstances.
Representatives from Consumer Protection Councils of Punjab and Lahore and from Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan informed that, in line with the directions of the e-Commerce Policy, Federal and Provincial Consumer Acts are being amended to include the subject of e-Commerce and the disputes arising from this sector.
They added that webinars are being planned to educate academia and train the judicial officers on the subject of consumer protection.
SECP shared with the participants that several new initiatives are being planned to promote e-Commerce, including introduction of a separate sectoral classification of e-Commerce.
So far 152 businesses have registered on their portal, which has reduced the time of a company registration to 4 hours.
Secretary Commerce told the participants that Ministry of Commerce is continuously engaged with its foreign trade missions for promoting Pakistani trade and exploring new markets for its exporters.
In this regard, a new development is registration of Pakistani sellers with Amazon. Initially, a list of 38 exporters has been communicated to Amazon, which is limited to Surgical & Sports Goods and Home Textiles Sectors but will be expanded to other sectors in near future, after a successful trial of these shortlisted companies.
A video message from the Director General-WTO, appreciating Pakistan’s e-Commerce Policy being a step in the right direction, was also shared with the participants.