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  • KCCI managing committee elected unopposed for next two years

    KCCI managing committee elected unopposed for next two years

    KARACHI: All candidates of Businessmen Group (BMG) have been elected unopposed for the Managing Committee of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the term 2019-2021.

    According to details, a total of 32 nominations were received by the Election Commission who all belonged to Businessmen Group, a statement said on Saturday

    The nominations papers were scrutinized by the Election Commission, which rejected 10 nomination papers by declaring them invalid whereas 7 candidates withdrew their nomination papers, resulting in unanimous election of the remaining 15 BMG candidates.

    Therefore, all 15 BMGIANs were declared successful in KCCI’s Election 2019-21.

    Siraj Kassam Teli, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) and Former President KCCI, on the occasion, expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah and conveyed thanks and compliments to the Business and Industrial community of Karachi for reposing confidence and trust on Businessmen Group.

    Siraj Teli said, “By the grace of Almighty Allah, BMG has been winning all the elections without losing a single seat for the last 22 years and after terribly defeating the opponents in last year’s election with double the votes, BMGIANs have been blessed with an unopposed victory by the Almighty Allah.

    He said that 22 years of success is an acknowledgement of the public service by the Businessmen Group which also testifies that overwhelming majority of Business and Industrial Community endorses the policies of BMG because they understand and believe that BMGians are serving them selflessly for their betterment.

    BMG Chairman hoped that the newly elected BMGians will make all out efforts in espousing the cause of Business and Industrial Community and to further enhance the status of public service which is the motto of BMG.

    The successful BMGians include names of Mohammad Junaid Mundia, Arshad Islam, Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Altaf Tai, Abdul Samad Shaikh, Atif Jamil ur Rehman, Muhammed Asif, Chaudhry Nasir Abdullah, Ibrahim Mustafa Ahmed Shamsi, Rafiq Muhammad Siddiq, Khurram Ajaz, Ovais Adil, Abdul Rehman Punjwani, Sohail Usman Sheikh and Junaid ur Rehman.

    As the Managing Committee members have been unanimously elected, hence no general election for Managing Committee will be held on September 21, 2019 whereas the election of KCCI’s Office Bearers for 2019-20 is scheduled to be held on Thursday, September 26, 2019 wherein BMG’s candidates Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan for President, Arshad Islam for Senior Vice President and Shahid Ismail for Vice President will be elected unanimously as the Managing Committee comprises of all BMGIANs.

  • KCCI seeks 90-day extension for clearance relaxation in printing retail price

    KCCI seeks 90-day extension for clearance relaxation in printing retail price

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the relaxation for further 90 days that was given for clearance of imported items without printing of retail price.

    Junaid Esmail Makda, President, KCCI has requested the FBR to extend the relaxation given for clearance of imported items under Third Schedule without printing of retail price or affixing stickers for 90 more days as the import orders were booked in advance for around 3 to 6 months while the packaging of the ordered products was already designed and printed at the initial stage.

    In a letter sent to Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi, President KCCI stated that on KCCI’s request FBR gave an extension of just 15 days for the implementation of the said condition but it was too short for importers to fulfill the new requirements and the process still remains incomplete, hence, the relevant notification should be extended for 90 days.

    He was of the opinion that it was not possible to re-print MRP on the old stock while any request of making changes at the eleventh hour are unacceptable to the sellers and spoils the credibility / goodwill of the trader.

    “The MRP cannot be assessed by the importer as they sell their imported goods to dealers who sell to distributors and they subsequently sell to retailers across the country while the end retail price including all the margins was determined afterwards which varies in different cases and cannot be standardized across Pakistan”, he added.

    He said that KCCI has received repeated requests from the importers that they were facing severe problems in meeting the requirements of printing Minimum Retail Price (MRP) on items added under the Third Schedule. In the Finance Act 2019-20, Sales Tax has been imposed at the import stage based on the printed MRP and many new items have been added to the Third Schedule of Sales Tax Act 1990.

    He said that on KCCI’s request, FBR allowed clearance of imported Third Schedule items without printing of retail price or affixing stickers for which goods declaration are filed by 31st July, 2019 subject to the condition that the importer declares retail price for each of the imported items for the assessment of sales tax vide Sales Tax General Order No. 102 / 2019 dated July 15, 2019 to clear the backlog at the ports.

    He reiterated that it is impractical to pre-assess and then print the MRP at import stage on each and every item as a lot of factors affect the retail prices of the products like currency fluctuations, packing style, fragility and size of product, distance from ports &, transportation costs, market dynamics, competition, shelf life, and uncertainties of sale in future especially for seasonal items.

    Hence, Junaid Makda requested to withdraw the condition of printing MRP on imported goods or otherwise, allow MRP of the imported items to be declared on WEBOC along with the Goods Declaration (GD) for tax assessment purposes instead of being printed on each and every imported item. After the imposition of MRP, what will be the status of Import Trade Price (ITP) / Customs Valuation of items in the third schedule which also needs to be clarified, he added.

  • KCCI hails withholding tax exemption to yarn traders

    KCCI hails withholding tax exemption to yarn traders

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has hailed the decision of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to exempt withholding tax for yarn traders.

    In a statement issued on Monday President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda appreciated the FBR for holding numerous meeting with KCCI and taking into consideration KCCI’s suggestion pertaining to exemption of withholding tax to yarn traders into consideration as they were overburdened with additional taxes.

    Makda pointed out that under Section 45A of Part IV of the Income Tax Ordinance about Exemption from Specific Provisions, the sales, supplies and services made by traders of yarn to taxpayers from textile & articles, carpets, leather and Articles including artificial leather footwear, surgical goods and sportswear sector will not be subjected to deduction of withholding tax.

    He said that such traders of yarn shall pay 0.1 percent minimum tax on their annual turnover on monthly basis on the 30th day of each month and monthly withholding tax statement shall be e-filed under the provision of section 165 of the Income Tax Ordinance, which was widely being demanded by relevant stakeholders.

    He hoped that misinterpretation and incorrect application of Section 113 of Income Tax Ordinance which was against the spirit of SRO 333 (I) 2011 will not be repeated again and FBR would continue to take more such steps which were badly needed as the loyal taxpayers from different sectors of the economy were facing immense hardships and were finding it hard to continue their businesses because of exorbitantly high cost of doing business which must be brought down to provide a level playing field and make Pakistani goods competitive.

  • UAE announces opening visa centers at Karachi, Islamabad

    UAE announces opening visa centers at Karachi, Islamabad

    KARACHI: United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced to open visa centers in Karachi and Islamabad this year in order to facilitate Pakistanis, said UAE Ambassador Hamad Obaid Alzaabi.

    UAE Embassy will be opening a visa center in Karachi which will become operational in the first week of September 2019 while another visa center will also become functional in Islamabad in the first week of October 2019 which would provide all facilities here in Pakistan.

    “Everything will be here including the medical insurance, checkups and the contracts etc. to facilitate visa issuance from the visa center in Karachi which will be the biggest visa center of Asia while the entire team for this Visa Center at Khayaban-e-Shamsheer in Karachi will come from UAE”, he added while exchanging views at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) on Friday.

    Deputy Consul General of UAE Bakheet Ateeq Alremeithi, Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior Vice President KCCI Khurram Shahzad, Vice President KCCI Asif Sheikh Javaid and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting.

    While expressing gratitude to KCCI for extending warm hospitality on his visit to KCCI, UAE Ambassador said that he has visited many areas of Pakistan including Faisalabad, Sialkot, Lahore, Peshawar, South Waziristan and Quetta but Karachi was one of the most important cities of Pakistan where social life, atmosphere, culture and people were very different as compared to other areas including Islamabad.

    UAE Envoy stated that relations between Pakistan and UAE have always been very strong and historical but there was a need to further build these relations by exploring the opportunities and potential areas for enhancing trade and investment. “The governments of UAE and Pakistan are working very hard to narrow the gap and find opportunities, chances and potential for trade and investment”, he added.

    “We are trying to find new areas of cooperation where we could work together and also examining the challenging areas so that these could be addressed by the authorities in UAE. Inshallah we will put our hands together to move forward in future”, he added.

    He further informed that UAE was now offering Silver Investment Visa for 5 years and Golden Investment Visa for 10 years which were being issued under a specific criteria and depend on the size of a company and also the amount being invested.

    He stressed the need for having legal framework between UAE and Pakistan to encourage and save investments made either in Pakistan or in UAE.

    Agreeing to President KCCI’s suggestion of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between KCCI and UAE Chamber, he said it was really important so that a framework could be defined because when there was a gap and no official visits, the business communities and Chambers of Commerce simply will have no idea about the business potential in Pakistan and UAE. “Any suggestion from Karachi Chamber which pertains to signing MoUs, agreements, workshops, conferences and seminars will certainly be taken into consideration”, he assured, “We are ready to support you and whatever you need, we are always there at the UAE Embassy and Consulate in Karachi to assist you.”

    Chairman BMG & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, in his remarks, appreciated the support and cooperation being extended by UAE’s Embassy and its Consulate in Karachi as they have been fully facilitating KCCI’s visa requests from time to time and they haven’t faced any problems at all in this regard. However, he requested the Deputy Consul General to devise some kind of system in collaboration with KCCI so that visas could be issued to credible businessmen and industrialists with a personal guarantee by KCCI. He informed that Karachi Chamber thoroughly reviews and verifies all the documents being submitted by its members intending to obtain KCCI’s visa recommendation letter so that only genuine businessmen could avail this facility.

    He also requested the Ambassador to only entertain visa recommendation letters and requests from those Chambers of Commerce and trade associations which were legally registered at the Ministry of Commerce. In Pakistan particularly in Karachi, there were a lot of paper-based and bogus forums and Councils etc. which were not legally registered, he noted, adding that in this regard, UAE Embassy can easily obtain a list of all legal Chambers of Commerce and trade bodies along with their jurisdiction details from the Ministry of Commerce that would help in better understanding the legalities and jurisdictions of 42 Chambers of Commerce and around 120 sector-specific trade associations in Pakistan, he added.

    While welcoming the UAE Ambassador, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda expressed the intention to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with UAE Chamber in order to improve the trade and investment ties and bring business communities more close to each other. “We should work collectively to enhance bilateral trade and deal with all the irritants and barriers, particularly the non-tariff barriers between the two countries.”

    He said that although tourist visa was being offered without any problem but the UAE government must also look into the possibility of issuing business visas to Pakistan’s business community.

    Junaid Makda informed that around 1.6 million Pakistanis were residing in different cities of UAE. The country received remittance of $4.62 billion from UAE during Fiscal Year 2019, making it one of the most attractive destination for Pakistani workers.

    He said, “Pakistan was going through a very hard time in terms of economic conditions but UAE’s support has been remarkable and we are very grateful for helping Pakistan with $3 billion balance-of-payments support.

  • KCCI supports government resolve to tax all taxable incomes

    KCCI supports government resolve to tax all taxable incomes

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has supported efforts of the government to bring all taxable income into tax net.

    In a statement issued on Monday President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda said that Karachi Chamber never supported any strikes and will continue to do so in future as well because strikes were neither in favor of the business community nor in favor of the government therefore, they strongly believe in negotiations which was also suggested by Chairman BMG during the abovementioned meeting with PM Imran Khan.

    He opined that the government has set an ambitious revenue collection target and we hope that the government could come close to achieving it as the country is in dire need of it.

    Junaid Makda stated that the government rightly emphasizes on strictly dealing with tax evaders particularly those who have been living lavish lives, frequently travelling abroad, having huge properties and extravagant vehicles while their kids were also studying in foreign universities but during this course of action no injustice be done to any innocent.

    “Our Prime Minister, State Minister, PM’s Advisor, Chairman FBR and other lawmakers have been claiming of possessing details of all such tax evaders and assuring to take strict action but I would like to suggest that the names of such elements who are the actual culprits must be publicized in the media. It is genuinely because of such elements that the loyal taxpayers have to bear the burden of exorbitant taxes which is a sheer injustice and needs special attention,” he added.

    While appreciating PM’s remarks pertaining to partnering with the business community in order to resolve issues and ensuring Ease of Doing Business which is the need of the hour, Junaid Makda requested a flexible approach while dealing with loyal taxpayers who hardly receive just 5 percent of facilities as compared to their contribution to the national exchequer.

    He further pointed out that hundreds of imported containers remain stuck up at the port either due to anomalies or any other issues emerging after the amendments. Although the Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi has assured to look into this matter but the business community would highly appreciate a more rapid approach with permanent solution to this issue in order to save businessmen from suffering serious losses on account of demurrage and detention charges.

    Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli and President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Junaid Esmail Makda, welcomed the assurance given by Prime Minister Imran Khan during his last meeting with Karachi’s business community, stated that the Karachi Chamber fully supports the government’s resolve to bring everyone into the tax net as higher number of taxpayers would result in dividing the tax burden and ultimately ensure relief to existing taxpayers who are currently overburdened with exorbitant taxes and duties.

    Chairman BMG and President KCCI categorically stated that Karachi Chamber’s membership base comprises of taxpayers only who all have valid NTN numbers. “KCCI firmly believes that everyone should pay taxes and it was a matter of pride for us that we represent a city that contributes a mammoth amount of more than 70 percent revenue to the national exchequer in shape of taxes, duties and other levies”, they said, adding that everyone should be taxed and no tax exemptions should be granted to favorites as it is the prime responsibility of every citizen to contribute towards the progress and prosperity of Pakistan by paying all the applicable taxes.

    The KCCI leadership further urged the FBR to post the city-wise taxation details and relevant statistical data on its website so that actual position could be brought into the limelight and other cities, which were contributing less taxes, must also be taken to task.

    Chairman BMG Siraj Kassam Teli commented that the government has devised numerous laws and amendments with a sincere intent to enhance tax collection but we fear that most of these laws and amendments which have enhanced discretionary powers to FBR officials even at lower level would only be used to harass the taxpayers in order to seek personal benefits and gratifications.

    “The government is serious towards improving the tax collection which we highly appreciate but the recently introduced laws and amendments need some review and scrutiny by independent individuals. These laws should be devised and implemented in such a manner that they don’t pave way for corruption but actually enhance the revenue”, he added.

    He was of the opinion that in order to achieve the desired results in terms of revenue collection, the government has simultaneously opened many fronts which have terribly disturbed the entire business cycle and it was the basic reason behind why they (the government) have been facing agitations and resistance.

    “It is requested to compare all the segments where taxes have been imposed verses the revenue expected and decide whether it is worth to take on that particular segment immediately or leave it for a while. We are not asking to leave anybody out of the net but wherever the implementation is not immediately possible it’s better to give some time and let the country move forward, he added.

  • No compromise on documentation; PM refuses to withdraw CNIC condition

    No compromise on documentation; PM refuses to withdraw CNIC condition

    KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday showed firm resolve to document the economy and flatly refused demands of business community to withdraw condition of CNIC on sales above Rs50,000.

    Representatives of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) met the prime minister at the Governor House. The entire prime minister’s team of finance and commerce was also present at the meeting.

    The business community urged the prime minister to withdraw the condition of CNIC at the time of sales, which was introduced through Finance Act, 2019.

    Sources said that the Prime Minister had refused the demand and told the business community that the businesses had to be documented. The prime minister said requirement of CNIC / information on above Rs50,000 sales was quite justified.

    The prime minister said that he wanted to see Pakistan grow on Turkish model. He further said that the government wanted to take along the business community on journey to growth.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan told the business community that he had arrived Karachi to resolve problems of trade and industry. He said that the government wanted to ease in doing business.

    Our priority to eradicate poverty and accelerate economic growth, he added.

    After the meeting business community has expressed disappointment.

    Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, senior FPCCI leader, while talking to media said that the apex body had presented all the problems at the meeting that are hampering the economic growth.

    The prime minister has been informed about protests by small associations. He said that the FPCCI had urged the prime minister to restore zero rated for export sector.

    He said that the interest rate by State Bank was on the rise and it would make difficult for industry to continue the production activities. On the other hand the FBR had also not withdrawn several levies on the export sector.

    The prime minister has been informed that reforms should bring in phases.

    Another meeting was held with export sector in which the prime minister listened to their problems. However, the export sector was also not happy to resolve their issues at the meeting.

  • Karachi Chamber demands restoration of sales tax zero rating for export industries

    Karachi Chamber demands restoration of sales tax zero rating for export industries

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday urged the government to restore sales tax zero-rating for export oriented industries as due to withdrawal of this scheme many industries have shut down their activities.

    KCCI President Junaid Esmail Makda in a statement expressed deep concerns over the worsening crises being faced by the industries across Pakistan after the withdrawal of zero-rated regime which has created a disastrous situation for the export-oriented industries and it was a matter of grave concerns that many industries, particularly the textile units and its allied industries have shut down their activities, rendering thousands of people completely jobless.

    He said that the industries have been compelled to pay to 17 to 20 percent sales tax after the withdrawal of zero rated regime, which has intensified the hardships for industrial units of all sizes as they face huge liquidity crisis and more importantly industry cannot borrow the loan from commercial banks at 14-15 percent interest rate which was not a feasible option.

    “If the situation is not timely addressed, we fear that the export-oriented industries will not be able to operate smoothly and they will die”, he added.

    Junaid Makda stressed that keeping in view the miseries being faced by the Industry, the government must reverse its decision to restore zero-rated regime for five export oriented industries while ample opportunity must also be provided to all the stakeholders to amicably settle this serious issue otherwise Pakistan exports, which comprise mostly of textile products, will go all the way down to zero.

    The poor performance of export-oriented industries was something which neither the government nor the business community could afford particularly at a time when Pakistan was struggling really hard to somehow maintain and improve its depleting foreign reserves.

  • Karachi Chamber urges FBR to adjust refunds of previous amnesty’s refunds

    Karachi Chamber urges FBR to adjust refunds of previous amnesty’s refunds

    KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Junaid Esmail Makda, while referring to his conversation with Minster of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar and Member IR – FBR Dr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar during meetings in Islamabad, stated that after listening to the grievances being faced by those individuals whose asset declaration cases were stuck up due to some IT glitches on last day of Amnesty Scheme 2018, the State Minister and Member IR suggested that five percent tax paid against the assets declared by such individuals can be refunded so that they could re-declare their assets in this year’s Asset Declaration Scheme.

    In a statement issued on Tuesday, President KCCI pointed out that KCCI received numerous complaints about unprocessed cases of last year’s amnesty scheme in which although the individuals submitted their taxes well in time within the last date of the amnesty scheme but their cases were not processed in FBR’s portal and to date, the fate of all such cases has not be decided.

    “KCCI has written numerous letters from time to time so that the issue could be resolved and the policymakers have been assuring to look into this issue but no relief has been provided so far”, he added.

    He said that as the government was making all out efforts to make this year’s Asset Declaration Scheme successful, they must look into the possibility of providing relief to such individuals whose cases were not processed in last year’s Amnesty Scheme due to congestion in FBR’s portal or any other IT-related glitch.

    Junaid Makda suggested that FBR should come up with a relevant notification in this regard in which they must announce refunds to such cases so that these individuals could quickly avail this year’s amnesty scheme.

    He was fairly optimistic that keeping in view the government’s seriousness towards the Ease of Doing Business, the FBR would look into this matter and accordingly announce relief for such individuals as per commitment which would encourage many others to come forward to participate in this year’s Asset Declaration Scheme.

    He was of the opinion that although the last date for Asset Declaration Scheme has been extended for three more days but it was not suffice and the government must extend it for at least 30 more days so that maximum number of people could avail this scheme which would prove beneficial for the national exchequer. “The business community remained heavily engaged in identifying budget anomalies, leaving a very little time to examine and look into the possibility of benefitting from Asset Declaration Scheme whose deadline has to be extended”, he added.

  • Karachi Chamber opposes CNIC condition on supplies

    Karachi Chamber opposes CNIC condition on supplies

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has opposed the requirement of Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) details to be provided by suppliers of unregistered buyers.

    In a statement issued on Wednesday, the KCCI said that through an amendment to Section 8 (Sub-Sec.1, Clause M) of Sales Tax Act 1990, it is now mandatory for the supplier of goods to provide CNIC number of unregistered buyer of raw materials and finished products, effectively placing the responsibility to identify non-filers on the shoulders of compliant taxpayers.

    It was pointed out that with a dismally narrow tax base of Sales Tax registered persons comprising hardly 35000 in number, it is virtually impossible for the importers, manufacturers and suppliers of goods to find registered buyers or those willing to provide their CNIC details.

    Consequently the inventories of unsold goods with traders, stockists, importers and manufacturers are piling up, blocking their entire working capital as well as the funds borrowed from banks.

    The overnight change has put entire trade and industry in a quandary as to whether or not to continue in business because it is simply not possible to find registered buyers or those willing to provide their CNIC.

    KCCI and other trade bodies are overwhelmed with complaints from traders, importers, manufacturers and dealers to take up this serious issue with Finance Ministry and FBR to find a workable solution immediately to pre-empt a crisis within the trade and industry, he added.

    President KCCI Junaid Makda, therefore, urged the Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue & Economic Affairs Dr. Hafeez Shaikh and Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi, to review the provision of CNIC, taking into account the ground realities of Pakistan’s economy and withdraw the condition to provide CNIC details of unregistered buyers in Sales Tax Invoices as it is not possible to comply with the condition with immediate effect.

    He further urged the authorities to defer the proposed measure for at least one year so as to facilitate a gradual transition from current procedure and to help release the working capital of entire supply chain which is currently blocked.

    Already the economic activities are very slow and such measures will further aggravate the situation.

    Since the Chairman FBR has formed the anomaly committee which includes representatives of business community, the matter will also be raised with the meetings of committee along with other major anomalies which exist in the Budget 2019-20, he assured.

  • KCCI seeks three month deferment for implementing unregistered buyers’ details

    KCCI seeks three month deferment for implementing unregistered buyers’ details

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Monday urged the government to defer implementation of obtaining information of unregistered buyers.

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