Tag: FBR

  • Pakistan Customs intensifies inspection at all international airports

    Pakistan Customs intensifies inspection at all international airports

    Pakistan Customs has intensified goods inspection at all international airports to prohibit the smuggling of recently banned commodities. The federal government prohibited the items in SRO No. 598(I)/2022, issued May 19, 2022, by revising the Import Policy Order, 2022.

    This 24-hour monitoring at international terminals to prevent smuggling has already resulted in multiple confiscation of these items disguised as legitimate passenger baggage.

    Banned commodities like foodstuff, fruits, sanitary wares, used mobile phones, and branded shoes were found in commercial quantities during scanning and inspection at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on May 23, 2022.

    The aforementioned items were detained/seized in accordance with Sector 168 of the Customs Act of 1969 for violating SRO No. 598(I)/2022 (Import Policy Order, 2022) and Sections 16 and 139 of the Customs Act of 1969.

    While applauding Pakistan Customs’ efforts, the Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) reaffirmed the FBR’s unwavering determination to strengthen policing strategies at all airports, seaports, and land border stations to ensure the avoidance of trafficking of goods, including newly banned items.

    Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and FBR Chairman, on the other hand, have issued instructions not to bother genuine passengers bringing in goods in non-commercial/small quantities for personal use, and to assist such passengers at airports to the greatest extent permitted by law.

    People in Pakistan were outraged by the Customs move, particularly those who had been thoroughly scanned and shared their side of the story on social media.

  • CNG prices pushed to Rs140 per kg for sales tax collection

    CNG prices pushed to Rs140 per kg for sales tax collection

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has raised the sales tax rate on compressed natural gas (CNG) supplies to customers.

    On Tuesday, the FBR published S.R.O. 587(I)/2022 to replace S.R.O. 39(I)/2022, which was issued on January 8, 2022. It has amended the value of compressed natural gas (CNG) supply to consumers in order to charge sales tax from CNG stations.

    It has set the value of supply to CNG customers in order for gas generation and distribution businesses to charge sales tax from CNG stations.

    CNG rates

    The price of CNG in Region-I, which includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Potohar, has been raised from Rs134.57 per kg to Rs140 per kg (Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Gujar Khan).

    Read more: Pakistani Rupee crashes to a record low against US dollar 

    Moreover, the cost of CNG has been raised from Rs128.11 per kg to Rs135 per kg in Region-II, which covers Sindh and Punjab except for the Potohar region.

  • FBR records 29.1% growth during July 2021 to March 2022, despite providing ‘massive tax relief’

    The provisional revenue collection data for the months of July 2021 to March 2022 of the current financial year 2021-22 have been announced by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

    The net collection was Rs575 billion for the month of March 2022, up 20.5 per cent from Rs477 billion in March 2021.

    Conversely, the gross revenues, rose by 28.9 per cent in the current financial year, from Rs3,577 billion in July 2020 to March 2021 to Rs4,611 billion in July 2021 to March 2022. Furthermore, the amount of reimbursements granted in March 2022 was Rs31.9 billion, compared to Rs26.3 billion in March 2021, showing a 21.3 per cent upsurge.

    Then again, refunds of Rs229 billion were paid from July 2021 to March 2022, a 25 per cent increase over the Rs183 billion paid the previous year.

    Read more: Petrol, Diesel prices to remain unchanged till April 15

    It is worth noting that the continuous remarkable growth in revenue collection has been achieved despite the government providing ‘massive tax relief’ to the general public on a variety of vital commodities.

    For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the sales tax on all petroleum products was abolished, costing the FBR Rs45 billion in the past month.

  • FBR freezes all bank accounts of singer Aima Baig

    FBR freezes all bank accounts of singer Aima Baig

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has frozen all bank accounts related to Pakistani singer, Aima Baig over unpaid taxes on Wednesday. She has not paid her taxes from the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.

    She allegedly withdrew Rs 25 million from her bank accounts and emptied them before FBR attempted to recover money from the accounts.

    Now FBR is planning to seize all vehicles belonging to the singer.

    On January 14, 2022, Aima received a notice from the FBR for non-payment of taxes worth Rs 85 million.

    On the work front, the singer will feature in Pakistan Super Leagues’ (PSL) Anthem along with Atif Aslam. The music will be produced by Abdullah Siddiqui.

    She was recently in the news over a controversial video where she showed her middle finger to a person in the crowd during her concert.

    Aima clarified the reason for her actions, saying she did it because someone in the crowd did it first to her.

  • PTI’s Hammad Azhar gives tax details, confirms that he paid Rs18 million in taxes

    PTI’s Hammad Azhar gives tax details, confirms that he paid Rs18 million in taxes

    Energy Minister Hammad Azhar has responded to The Current’s news report that stated he paid Rs29,025 in an individual capacity in 2019. However, the minister denied the report and clarified that he paid Rs18 million in 2019.

    Hammad Azhar said that, “My AOP pays my personal income tax on my behalf and it has paid Rs18 million on that count. They [Federal Board of Revenue] have listed clearly that my AoP has paid my share of income tax as Rs18 million.”

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) released its 2019 tax directory for parliamentarians recently. According to the document, the directory complied tax returns filed manually and electronically till January 3, reports Dawn.

    According to the data, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan paid Rs98 lakh. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif paid Rs82 lakh while Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari paid Rs5 lakhs 30 thousand.

  • Zardari corruption case: NAB references busted, not in accordance with law

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari ‘ultra vires and not according to the law’, reports The News.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah condemned NAB authorities and said that all its references got busted for not being prepared as per law. He said that the Bureau was just wasting its time by making pointless references, adding that NAB was not above the law.

    “How the bureau could declare null and void the Income Tax Order by itself,” the CJ observed, adding that NAB did not have any jurisdiction to nullify the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Assessment Order.

    Earlier, IHC had noticed that NAB challenged the acquittal request of Zardari, without obtaining the original record of the case.

    The court noted that it took NAB seven years to realise that the appeals were filed without possessing the original record.

    CJ Minallah said NAB should now admit it had made a mistake by filing these references since it did not have proof against the former president.

    “And if indeed, there were no proofs, then the court will also take action against the former bureau chairman in whose tenure these cases had been filed,” said the IHC CJ.

  • FBR issues notice to Multan’s ‘richest’ beggar

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a notice to Multan’s ‘richest’ beggar, Shaukat ‘Bikhari’, after finding out his assets, ARY News reported. 

    The notice was sent to Shaukat as the FBR unearthed Rs1.7 million deposit in his bank account, while his children are enrolled in an expensive school.

    FBR asked the beggar to show the sources of his income and why he had failed to submit his tax returns. FBR also questioned how he managed to buy life insurance of Rs10 million for his children. 

    Some reports claim that Shaukat absconded after receiving the notice from FBR. A team has been formed to trace his whereabouts. 

    A video went viral on social media showing Shaukat saying that he is a resident of Multan’s Shah Jamal area and had been begging in the area and earning Rs1,000 per day.

  • 90 per cent institutions, including PM Khan’s office, decline RTI requests

    The majority of government institutions and departments have declined to respond to hundreds of queries by Geo News, which were sent to them under the Right To Information (RTI) laws, Investigative Reporter Zahid Gishkori reports for The News.

    According to the Punjab Information Commission, RTI is the right that you have, as a citizen, to access information from your government and private bodies that receive public funds. It is based on the principle that information belongs to the people. Under Article 19-A of the Constitution, RTI is a fundamental right in Pakistan.

    The media outlet reportedly sent approximately 400 different queries to 36 key institutions in the last nine months but 90 per cent of them didn’t respond or simply declined. Only 10 per cent of queries were partially responded to by the institutions, providing either very little or patchy information.

    According to the report, a few of the institutions provided factually incorrect and cooked-up information.

    Over 100 queries were sent to the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, both have not responded. Similarly, Sindh and Balochistan did not receive the correspondent’s queries.

    The departments that simply refused to share any information includes the offices of the Prime Minister, President, Chief Ministers, Cabinet Members, Supreme and High Courts, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), Parliament, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the report states.

    The Cabinet Division (CD) refused to share any information regarding gifts and the use of helicopters by PM Khan. The ARU and NAB refused to share information on the Broadsheet scandal, as per the report.

    Furthermore, it says that the Ministry of Interior even shared false information by saying no official is facing inquiry in issuing bogus visas to Chinese nationals. despite the fact that the interior ministry itself referred an inquiry against its own officials allegedly involved in a visa scam to the FIA for probe.

    During the process, Gishkori was approached by four cabinet members and half a dozen senior civil servants to withdraw the requests.

  • High-powered cell to investigate 700 Pakistanis in Pandora Papers: PM Khan

    High-powered cell to investigate 700 Pakistanis in Pandora Papers: PM Khan

    Prime Minis­ter (PM) Imran Khan on Monday formed a high-powered cell to investigate the 700 Pakistanis named in the Pandora Papers, including federal cabinet members, politicians, retired generals, owners of media houses, and others in establishing offshore companies.

    PM Khan categorically stated that the prominent leaders and federal ministers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will have to clear themselves.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while speaking to Dawn said: “The prime minister was adamant that those who have been accused in Pandora Papers of having offshore firms will have to clear themselves.”

    The minister took to Twitter and informed about the formulation of the high-powered investigation cell. “The prime minister has set up a high-level cell under the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission to investigate the Pandora leaks, which will present the facts before the nation,” tweeted Fawad.

    Law Minister Farogh Naseem would head the investigation cell that would also comprise the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials. The cases of the cabinet members would be sent to NAB for investigation. A separate probe will be launched by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to investigate the media owners whose names are included in the Pandora Papers, reports Dawn.

    Those who had evaded tax or made offshore firms through ill-gotten money would be taken to task, otherwise, no action would be taken against others because establishing offshore firms was not a crime, the source tells Dawn.

    Under the law, setting up an offshore company is not an offence or crime if the company is not involved in any illegal activity. However, those who have not declared these companies in their returns as assets may face legal action.

    After the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released a detailed list of public figures with offshore companies called the ‘Pandora Papers’ as part of their new investigation, PM Khan vowed to investigate all those Pakistanis mentioned in the Pandora Papers, and tweeted: “If any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action.”

  • FBR extends date for filing income tax returns ‘due to serious technical problems’

    FBR extends date for filing income tax returns ‘due to serious technical problems’

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the date for filing income tax returns till October 15. Earlier, the last date for filling income tax returns was September 30. FBR had said at many times that it would not extend the deadline for people seeking to file their income tax returns, but the deadline was extended on Thursday.

    “In exercise of powers conferred under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the Federal Board of Revenue is pleased to extend the date of fling of income tax return for tax year 2021, by 15 days i.e. up to 15.10.21 due to serious technical problems in online return filing system (IRIS),” said the notification issued by FBR.

    As per Geo News, Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin decided to extend the date considering the constant demands from the business community. The tax-collection body had received several applications for the extension of the deadline for filing income tax returns.