Wednesday, 11 April 2018

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QUETTA

TARIQ DERYA

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he Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Quetta, Enforcement Squad, took into possession Iranian diesel, smuggled goods along with NDP vehicles worth Rs151.91million during March FY17-18.

According to details explained by Ashraf

Ali, Collector, Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Quetta, that the Enforcement Squad of the MCC Quetta showed satisfactory performance during the month of March FY17-18. The collectorate received Rs20million extra revenue by impounding miscellaneous goods and vehicles against the same corresponding FY16-17. The ASO Quetta conQiscated worth Rs151.91million smuggled goods

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during March FY17-18 while it seized worth Rs121.899million goods during the identical previous FY16-17.

Telling about the further details, he said that the Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) Quetta took into possession fewer vehicles during the month of March FY17-18 against the same corresponding Qinancial year whereas inpounded vehicles’ value showed increase against the previous duration.

Islamabad Collectorate displays three percent growth

Customs Export retrieves evaded amount of Rs9.95m after serving notices

Number of taxpayers increased in Punjab: Ghaus Pasha

Surriya Butt set to revise Valuation Ruling No: 898/2016 on May 21

Multan Customs generates revenue of Rs3520.412 million

MCC Islamabad collected surplus revenue under all the heads except | SEE pAgE 02 |

The Customs Export has recovered an evaded amount of taxes and duties | SEE pAgE 03 |

Dr. Ayesha has said the number of taxpayers had increased in the province | SEE pAgE 04 |

DG Valuation has decided to revise the Valuation Ruling No: 898/2016 on May 21 | SEE pAgE 09 |

Multan Customs has successfully collected Rs.3520.412 million | SEE pAgE 16 |

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Six Customs officers of BS 18-20 reshuffled Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue transferred/posted six Pakistan Customs Service officers of BS 18-20 with immediate effect and until further orders. According to the notification, the officers who are drawing performance allowance prior to issuance of this notification shall continue to draw this allowance on the new place of posting. The officers have been asked to relinquish/assume charge, using online HRMS facility made available to FBR or by using their IJP logins.

Islamabad collectorate displays three percent growth

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD

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TARIQ DERYA

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he Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is considering levying a tax on ‘expensive gifts’ given by taxpayers to non-family members after wealthy Pakistanis gave away Rs102 billion under the scheme last tax year. The gifts to family members are still proposed to remain exempted from income tax, according to a budget proposal of the FBR for the fiscal year 2018-19, starting from July. The money that a taxpayer will show as gift from or for non-family members in his wealth statement would be treated as his income, according to sources in the FBR. The amount will be charged at standard income tax rates, according to the sources. The gifts valuing above a minimum threshold should be subject to the tax, said the sources. The proposal was to fix the minimum taxable limit of a gift in the range of Rs1 million to Rs1.5 million, the sources said. The budget proposal still has to go through final scrutiny. The FBR is currently in the process of scrutinising tax proposals that will be announced in the budget to be unveiled on April 27.

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he MCC Islamabad collected surplus revenue under all the heads except FED during the month of March FY17-18 against an earmarked revenue collection target under all the heads.

According to details explained by Collector MCC Islamabad that Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Islamabad posted 3% increase against an assigned revenue collection target under all the heads for the month of March FY17-18 as the collectorate showed 11% growth in March FY17-18 against a revenue collection during the same duration of corresponding FY16-17 under all the heads. During the month of March FY17-18, the MCC Islamabad earned Rs1771.779million under all the heads against an earmarked target of Rs1714.66million. He further told CT that the MCC received Rs57.119million extra revenue under all the heads against an assigned revenue target for the month of March FY17-18.

The Collector MCC Islamabad informed the correspondent that the collectorate fetched Rs610.671million of Customs Duty (CD) during March FY17-18 against an allocated a revenue collection target of Rs592.67million. The MCC collected Rs18million extra revenue under the same head against an assigned

Rs102 billion gifts given last year: fBR may tax ‘expensive gifts’

target. The MCC Islamabad got Rs699.861million as Sales Tax (ST) against an allocated target of Rs.616.30 million. It was notiQied that the collectorate earned an additional revenue of Rs83.56million under ST against an earmarked target during March FY17-18. The MCC

earned Rs325.890million of Income Tax (IT) during said period while it was assigned Rs313.03million. It was added that the MCC received Rs12.22million extra revenue under the head of IT against an allocated revenue target. The MCC Islamabad generated Rs135.357million as Fed-

eral Excise Duty (FED) during the month of March FY17-18 against an earmarked revenue collection target of Rs192.66million. The collectorate earned less revenue of Rs.57million against an allocated collection target of FED for the month of March FY17-18.

Ihc orders parties to present relevant record of cAT & mcc

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ISLAMABAD

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he Islamabad High Court directed the parties to submit related record while hearing customs matters involving Customs Appellate Tribunal and Model Customs Collectorate Islamabad.

The IHC Division Bench, comprising of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the cases and issued directives.

The bench had also dated in ofQice the hearing on matters Qiled by DG Intelligence and Investigation against Malik Muhammad Ajmal Khan. M/s Comfort Sales Corporation had Qiled a case against the ATIR and Customs Department. M/S Comfort Sales Corporation had challenged the act of recovery of said amount by the Commissioner Inland Revenue of Large Taxpayers’ Unit Islamabad. The ATIR was also made a respondent in the case as tribunal had upheld departmental decision regarding the is-

suance of show cause notice and demand of recovery of outstanding tax

amount under the head of Federal Excise Duty. M/S Comfort Sales Corpo-

ration prayed the court that the FBR ofQice had issued a recovery notice to the company which did not hold lawful grounds. The appellant prayed the court to declare the act as illegal and without any lawful authority and an interim stay may be granted against the recovery proceedings. M/S Comfort Sales Corporation also mentioned that the departmental obligations were not met amid processing the notice of the recovery demand while later the adjudication did not redress the grievances of the appellant.

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SHC directs Customs to issue delay detention certificate to M/s Mandia Exports KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Customs Department to issue delay detention certification to M/s Mandia Exports (Private) Limited.

The petitioner had challenged the imposition of regularity duty on a number of items, including the PVC Flooring imported from China, falling under HS Code 3918.1000.

While hearing a constitutional petition, a two-member bench headed by Justice Munib Akhtar also issued notices to the Customs Department and deputy attorney general, directing them to file their respective para wise comments on the next date of hearing.

customs court sends suspects to jail in betel nuts smuggling case

Wednesday April 11, 2018

Karachi

customs Export retrieves evaded amount of Rs9.95m after serving notices

KARACHI

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ustoms Court Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi sent suspects, Salahuddin and Abdul Hadi, to Central Jail Karachi on judicial remand in a betel nuts smuggling case. During the hearing, investigation officer of the Customs Department produced the suspects before the court and informed that customs authorities intercepted Hino passenger bus AlMahmood Coach bearing registration number BSA-407 near Choke Point at Moachko Karachi and recovered 45,000 kilograms betel nuts worth Rs 11.25 million. He further informed the court that the suspects were asked to produce lawful documents of betel nuts, but they failed after which the authorities arrested the suspects after registering a case.

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Stocks start new week on positive note KARACHI

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he Pakistan Stock Exchange started new week on positive note after adding 74 points in early trading to reach 46712 points level. Last week, the KSE-100 index extended its gains during the week, closing up 1,148 points (+2.5 percent WoW), at 46,638 level. Optimism continued on the back of rallies in Cement (+3.7 percent WoW), Oil and Gas Marketing (+3.1 percent WoW) and Oil & Gas Exploration (+1.7 percent WoW) sectors.

Market during the entire week witnessed positive trend in anticipation of announcement of Amnesty scheme and government steps for resolution of external account woes.

During the outgoing week, cement and banking sector emerged as the top performers, contributing 195/194 points.

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KARACHI

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he Customs Export has recovered an evaded amount of taxes and duties of Rs9.95million from defaulter companies which were earlier issued with notices to pay the outstanding dues. Sources told Customs Today that, during a scrutiny of the import data, it was revealed that M/s Sabeen Marble Pak Colony Karachi availed undue beneQits and concessions by importing polish and cutter machines by misusing the SRO 561 through Examiner Mateen Bilgrami on September 9, 2017.

Sources further told Customs Today that the company was allegedly involved in tax evasion of Rs7.51million. The investigation continued after detecting the tax evasion and the Customs Export served on it with a Qinal notice on March 19, 2018 to deposit the evaded amount within 14 days. After receiving the notice, the management of M/s Sabeen Marble Pak Colony Karachi deposited the evaded amount in the ofQicial account of the Customs Export on 2nd of April. The management of the M/s Feroz Lawn Wala also cleared Rs2.44million of taxes and duties. Sources told the correspondent that the M/s Feroz Lawn Wala also availed undue beneQits and concessions and avoided paying taxes according to the customs bylaws. The Customs Export au-

thorities issued to it a Qinal notice on February 6, 2018, but nobody received the notice on that time. After few days, the company received the notice and deposited the evaded amount of taxes on 3rd April.

Meanwhile, The Customs Export has recovered an evaded amount of taxes and duties of Rs8.36million from defaulter companies which were issued with notices to pay the outstanding dues. Sources told Customs Today that, during a scrutiny

The management of m/s Sabeen marble pak colony karachi deposited the evaded amount in the official account of the customs Export

court approves bail of suspects involved in ST fraud

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KARACHI

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ustoms Court Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi has granted interim pre-arrest bail to suspects, Tahir Ilyas, Rizwan Ilyas and Shaikh Imran Ilyas, directors of M/s Pakistan Package (Private) Limited in a case of submitting fake and fraudulent sales tax returns, declaring fake bank account and issuing fake sales tax invoices.

During the hearing, counsel for the suspects moved bail application and argued that their clients are innocent and were falsely been implicated in this case. He said they are ready to face trail, however, they have apprehension of the arrest, therefore, the court may grant them bail till Qinal judgment in this case.

After the hearing, the court granted them bail against the surety of Rs 100,000 each and also issued notices to the Customs Department and special prosecution for the Cus-

toms Department for April 9, 2018.

The court also directed suspects to appear before the court on the next date of hearing. According to the investigation ofQicer, during the investigation, it is established that the registered person has claimed/ adjusted inadmissible input tax as the supplies from whom purchases have shown, have never supplied the goods to M/s M. King International.

Thus by claiming/ adjusting inadmissible input tax through submitting fake and fraudulent sales tax.

of the import data, it was revealed that M/s Wajanti Associate Karachi availed undue beneQits and concessions after importing different consignments of steel scrape by misusing the SRO 568 through Examiner Sabahat A. Siddique on August 12, 2017. Sources further said that the company was allegedly involved in the tax evasion of Rs4.81million. After detecting the tax evasion, the Customs Export served on it a Qinal notice on 12th of March 2018.

Rupee depreciates in open market he Pakistani rupee on witnessed mix trend against the dollar both in open market and in interbank. As per the local money market, the dollar added 5 paisas in open market for buying at Rs116.45 and for selling at Rs117.25. The dollar lost five paisas in interbank for buying at Rs115.20 and for selling at Rs115.40.

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FTO seeks remarks on tax refund appeal filed by M/s Fish Bowl Limited Wednesday April 11, 2018

Lahore

LAHORE: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) seeks departmental remarks in the tax refund appeal. The same appeal was filed by M/s Fish Bowl (Private) Limited against Corporate Regional Tax Office (CRTO).

FTO Adviser Mian Munawar Ghafoor heard the case in which counsel for appellant argued that the Corporate Regional Tax Office (CRTO) has failed to release the tax refunds since two years which were claimed by the company. He said that the RTO has been collecting excessive taxes from M/s Fish Bowl (Private) Limited for the last two years. He approached the commissioner concerned many times for release of refunds but the CRTO officials did not entertain the requests even after the passage of a reasonable time.

fTo directs RTo to resolve issue of Sales Tax’s refund claim LAHORE

SAJID nAwAZ

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he Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has remanded back an appeal to solve the issue of petitioner. The same appeal was Qiled by Proprietor Safder Ali & Brothers against the Regional Tax OfQice (RTO-II) Lahore and adjourned until the next date of hearing. FTO Advisor Mian Munawar Ghafoor heard the case. The counsel for the appellant argued that the RTO had failed to release the sales tax refund to the appellant for the last two years. He said that the RTOII has been collecting excessive tax from the company for the last two years. The petitioner approached the ofQicials concerned several times for release of refunds, but the RTO

fIA arrests man for harassing girl he FIA Cyber Crimes Wing has arrested three accused persons, one for blackmailing a young girl and two for their alleged involvement in ATM fraud. According to FIA officer Khalid Anees, a raiding team arrested one accused namely Muhammad Imran of Rawalpindi for harassing a young girl through social media. Similarly, he said, during another raid, an FIA team arrested two accused, Junaid and Sohail, for their alleged involvement in ATM fraud. Cases have been registered. deportees: FIA arrested and handed over two deportees to Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC), Lahore. According to an FIA official, the arrested deportees were identified as Farhan Arshad and Muhammad Imran. They had landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport on Tuesday early morning. Further investigations are underway. –CB Report

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ofQicials failed to clear the refunds after the lapse of a reasonable time.

Finally, the appellant decided to approach the FTO seeking intervention in the case. The counsel appealed the FTO Advisor to direct the RTO-II to clear the refund claims.

The counsel further said that delay in release of refunds puts burden on the taxpayer, so the RTO-II should make audit of the cases and release the extra amount collected from the taxpayer. On the other hand, counsel for RTO-II argued that the appellant has not submitted all the record in the office for claiming refunds. If he provides accurate record, the RTO-II will release the refunds after a proper assessment, he maintained.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, FTO Advisor ordered the Regional Tax Office to solve the issue of petitioner regarding the tax refund.

number of taxpayers increased in punjab: ghaus pasha LAHORE

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inance Minister Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha has said the number of taxpayers had increased in the province with the addition of 46,000more taxpayers which was a positive sign toward the revenue generation goals.

The minster expressed these remarks while addressing a Pre-budget Conference 2018-19: Tax Reforms in Pakistan organized by School of Commerce and Accountancy at University of Management and Technology (UMT), here. She said the number of taxpayers could be multiplied further, provided universities create awareness among people to return their tax Qiles and formally register for tax net.

She said, “We need to change our perception of tax and the budget by

nAB arrests customs official over Rs2.6 billion betel leaf import scam

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ational Accountability Bureau (NAB) has arrested a senior Customs ofQicial allegedly involved in betel leaf import scam worth Rs2.6 billion. According to a NAB ofQicial, the arrested accused was identiQied as former deputy superintendent Muhammad Sohail Butt from Sialkot. The Bureau has already Qiled around 70 corruption references in accountability courts in the same case, he added. According to the NAB spokesman, accused Sohail Butt was appointed as Customs Deputy Super-

intendent during 2011-12 wherein he allegedly by misusing of his authority used to evade/mis-calculate custom duty liable on import of betel leaves which was being imported in accordance with Pak-Sri Lanka Free Trade agreement. Sohail Butt, he said, has been nominated as key accused in almost 40 corruption references Qiled before accountability courts in the same case in which more than Rs1 billion were embezzled with mutual connivance of numerous importers, including him. –CB Report

keeping in mind that more people pay taxes, the better would be lifestyle and facilities”. The minister said when the number of taxpayers expands, every budget whether it was provincial or federal turns to be more attractive, more meaningful and public friendly. Shading light on the Punjab government’s policies, Dr. Ayeshasaid the government was

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taking many initiatives to restore conQidence between taxpayers the government. She said the government wants to provide maximum opportunities of health, education and other basic facilities to masses, but it was also the responsibility of every citizen to change their traditional way of thinking about tax ratio and GDP.

computer Association seeks gST exemption akistan Computer Association (PCA) demanded of the government to abolish General Sales Tax (GST) on computer assemblers in the upcoming federal budget 2018-19 to boost the budding local industry.

“Pakistan’s computer assembling industry is struggling for its survival due to continued imposition of GST,” Bashrat Boloch, chairman of the Pakistan Computer Association, said while talking to the representatives of information technology (IT) business community. “Therefore, government ought

to take corrective measures to protect thousands of the people from getting unemployed resulted by possible closure of the industry.”

Boloch said improved security situation, efficient economic policies and development projects in all sectors, including the historic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), were indicative of the fact that government’s positive policies were paying off. “Likewise, friendly business environment in the country was also attracting large number of foreign investors in the country,” he said. –CB Report

Tribunal upholds impugned order in imported spinning frames

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LAHORE

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he Customs Appellate Tribunal upheld an impugned order and dismissed an appeal in an imported ring spinning frames and expiration of the manufacturing bond license. The appeal was Qiled by Collector Customs, Model Customs Col-

lectorate Multan, against the M/s Green House Spinning Mills Limited Multan. Justice Retired Malik Manzoor Hussain, Chairman Customs Appellate Tribunal, heard the case in details and passed a judgment with remarks that there is no merit in the appeal Qiled by the department and there is no need to intervention in the impugned order. M/s Green House Spinning Mills Limited got a manu-

facturing bond license but the same one was not renewed which was tantamount to violate the Customs Rules2001. As per show cause notice, respondent M/s Green House Spinning Mills Limited imported six sets of the Complete Ring Spinning Frame under SRO 554 (1)/1998. Due to illegalities, the contravention report was prepared and that matter was forwarded to jurisdiction. The matter was adju-

dicated by the authority and an Orderin-Original was given with remarks that the charge framed by the department is established and the party is directed to deposit Rs03million along with the original Sales Tax under Section 34 of the Act-1990. Feeling aggrieved from the order, the appeal was Qiled before the Collector of Customs Appeal who heard both parties and set aside the Order-in-Original.

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PESHAWAR

nADIR khAn

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he last nine months’ collection performance of the Modal Custom Collectorate Peshawar was outstanding as, during the period, the house collected Rs16459.36million up to March 2018 against Rs13331.61million up to March 2017 with a difference of Rs3097.75million income while the difference in percentage was 22.04 percent.

Under the head of custom duties, the Custom House Peshawar generated Rs6699.22million by March 2018 against Rs5049.89million of March 2017. The dif-

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Wednesday, April 11, 2018

ference was recorded as Rs1649.33million while the difference in percentage was 32.66 percent. Under the head of Federal Excise Duty on palm oil, the house collected Rs1674.20million till March 2018 against Rs1291.82million in March 2017.

The difference in rupees was recorded Rs382.38million while the difference in percentage was 29.60.

Likewise under the head of Sale Tax Value Addition on commercial

importers, the house earned Rs562.06million by March 2018 against Rs466million of March 2017. The difference in rupees was recorded Rs96.06million while the difference in percentage was 20.61.

Under the head of Federal Excise Duty, the house got Rs166.47million up to March 2018 against Rs131.59million of March 2017 with a difference of Rs34.88million while the difference in percentage was 26.51. Under the head of withholding tax, the house collected Rs3434million against Rs3230million in March 2017. The difference in rupees was Rs203.54million whereas a difference in percentage was 6.30.

eral of fed d a e h the , the lm oil under a p n D ut y o ted Excise collec e s ch u o h ll m ar lion ti l i m 0 illion 4.2 1.82m 9 Rs167 2 1 s R gainst 7 2018 a ch 201 in m ar

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Founder & Chairman Zulfiqar Ali Editor Rahil Yasin editor@customsbulletin.com.pk For advertising & subscription marketing@customsbulletin.com.pk www.customsbulletin.com Phones: 042-35781643-4, Fax: 042-35781645 Address: 627, Siddiq Trade Centre, Gulberg, Lahore

EDIToRIAL

need to sign charter of economy

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eeping in view persistent economic crisis, there is a need to write a new narrative or sign a charter of economy to ensure continuity of the government policies for sustainable development of the country. At a time the nation is facing political polarization, administrative failure and mismanagement, the leaders of main political parties need to find common grounds to write the narrative for prosperity and development of the nation. The other countries in the region are developing their economies, leaving aside political differences, but everyone harps on his own tone in case of Pakistan. The political leaders, who die in harness in the grief of the nation, have no democracy within their parties and they act not less than any dictator in their respective domains. It is an open secret that none of the political parties has a team of technocrats, financial experts or economic managers. All those heading the so-called mainstream political parties have the army of unqualified or disqualified lot to get showers of praises from them and speak foul against their opponents.

Economy is the main issue of this country, but life moves around politics in Pakistan.

There is a need to concentrate on the development of the economy, but none of the politicians is interested in it. As a result, when a political party comes to power, it adds its share of confusion in the administrative affairs of the country. The political parties need teams of highly qualified persons to run the government affairs, but all they gather are the packs of lackeys and sycophants around them. This results in failures after failures at the end.

The uneducated lot of politicians will never be able to write a narrative for the development of the country. The economy of not only of the region, but also of the world is changing and new entrants are expected to become new economic giants in next decade. Pakistani economy is resilient but every government department is bent upon pulling down the economic growth due to corruption. The political leaders should now prepare themselves for the future to carry out their responsibilities in befitting manners. Pakistan’s economic growth rate is recorded at 5.5 percent during the previous year and that also after a decade.

perils of corruption and mismanagement T

LAHORE

DR AfTAB AfZAL

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he outgoing government would deQinitely leave behind a legacy of corruption and mismanagement if present state of Qinancial and economic affairs continues to persist. The appointments on vital institutions are made on political grounds, which also leave a fair share of troubles for the next government. Unfortunately, politicians only concentrate on vested interests and have apparently nothing to do with the issues of national importance. The mandate of the current government is going to end in a few months, but Qinancial, economic and po-

litical situation has started worsening day by day. The current government inherited meager foreign exchange reserves when it took over in 2013 and the situation is the same four and half years later. In Minister of State for Finance views, the government would leave the foreign currency reserves, currently not more than $11.8 billion, at a comfortable level for its successor.

The minister has failed to mention the multiplication of the loans from $45 billion to $90 billion in four and half years. His statement could be regarded as a smug glow of self-congratulation and self-complacency but the idea will plunge the nation into Qinancial crisis in the coming year.

The widening current account deQicits are posing severe challenges to the economy and the government would have no option, but to buy dollars from the world Qinancial institutions. The speed with which the government plans to take commercial loans from international Qinancial institutions and friendly countries, no one would be able to stop debt servicing from becoming a snowball. The State Bank reserves could be propped up with borrowed money, but it would pose serious risks to the economy in the days to come. Reports suggest the government has already obtained $1.7 billion from friendly countries as part of the plan to keep the reserves at

comfortable level. The government is seeking more commercial loans with high markup rate, drifting the country toward further chaos. The panacea to economic and Qinancial woes lies in the development of industrial and agriculture sectors. The two sectors have the potentials to push the country into the Qirst world economies. It is easy to take loans but difQicult to pay back along with interests. Due to difference in export and import, the current account deQicit has already reached $10.8 billion, and concentrating on acquiring more loans will add insult to injury.

This government should not leave behind the legacy of corruption and mismanagement.

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M/s Haji Adam & Sons moves SHC seeking restoration of sales tax registration KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued notices to the Customs Department and deputy attorney general on a constitutional petition filed by M/s Haji Adam and Sons, seeking restoration of its sales tax registration. While the hearing the petition, a two-member bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, also directed them to file their respective para wise comments on the next date of hearing.

Earlier, counsel for the petitioner stated that petitioner’s sales tax registration has been suspended under section 21 (2) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 read with rule 12 of sales tax rules 2006 without any prior notice or opportunity of being heard and the allegation that petitioner have made huge import of finished fabric and other items and declared supplies to un-registered persons as zero rated during the period from July 2016 to December 17, 2018.

Railways demands Rs73b for ongoing, new projects in next fiscal year ISLAMABAD

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he Ministry of Railways has demanded Rs 73 billion for ongoing and new projects in the next Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for fiscal year 2018-19. The ministry has demanded Rs 70.5 billion for ongoing projects while Rs 2.5 billion for new projects, according to a document here on Wednesday. It said that Rs 5,861 million had been proposed for procurement of 585 Hopper Wagons and 20 bogie brake vans for coal transportation. The ministry has also demanded Rs 8,863 million for procurement of 780 High Capacity Bogie (Hopper) wagons and 20 bogie brake vans for transportation coal. Rs 6558.524 million has been proposed for rehabilitation of 27 HGMU-30 class diesel electric locomotives, the document added. A sum of Rs 7,142.102 million has been demanded for rehabilitation of rolling stock, tack, repairing of 800 coaches, 2,000

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Wednesday April 11, 2018

National

Surriya Butt set to revise Valuation Ruling no: 898/2016 on may 21 D

KARACHI

wAQAR AhmED AnSARI www.customsbulletin.com

irectorate General, Customs Valuation, Director General Surriya Ahmed Butt has decided to revise the Valuation Ruling No: 898/2016 on May 21, 2018, it is learnt. Surriya Butt said the department was reviewing suggestions from various importers to set the new prices of fruit jam (2007.1000, 9100, 2007 and 9900).

She said some valuations which were issued in 2016 were being reviewed from the beginning.

Moreover, the valuations will be set in view of the rising prices in the international market. Sources told Customs Today that a petition was Qiled with the Customs Valuation in which change in prices of fruit jam (2007.1000, 9100, 2007 and 9900) was requested. Sources further told CT that Valuation Ruling No: 898/2016 was issued on August 04, 2016. A meeting was held with the stakeholders on April 2, 2018.

Importers were advised to furnish the import invoices of the last three months showing factual values as well as websites, names and

e-mail addresses of known foreign manufacturers of the items in question through which the actual current value could be ascertained.

Meanwhile, The Directorate General of Customs Valuation has revised the customs values of menthol crystals through Valuation Ruling

No: 1277/2018 under Section 25A of the Customs Act-1969.

Earlier the customs values of the subject menthol crystals were determined vide Valuation Ruling No.650/2014 on March 26, 2014 which was later re-determined vide Order-in-Revision No.234/2016 on

August 18, 2016. There were several representations from importers, wherein they contended that customs values determined in the existing valuation ruling are not reQlective of prices in international markets and need to be re-determined accordingly.

fBR ‘to abolish’ automatic audit selection: member Legal wagons and acquisition of land for railway container yard, station and railway line from sea port to coastal highway at Gwadar. The document said that Rs 1,703.5 million had also been suggested in the PSDP for doubling of existing track from Port Qasim to bin Qasim Station, feasibility study to connect Gwadar with Karachi, and feasibility from Gwadar to Besima and from Besima to Jacobabad via Khuzdar. Rs 11,022.634 million has been proposed for preliminary design for up-gradation of main line (ML-1), establishment of dry-port near Havelian under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and hiring of design vetting consultations and reopening of rail car from Kohat to Rawalpindi on experimental basis.

KARACHI

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he Board in Council of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to abolish automatic audit selection of non-Qilers of tax returns in the upcoming budget for the Qiscal year of 2019.

This was stated by Tariq Masood, Member Legal of FBR during a prebudget seminar organised by Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA).

“The taxpayers will have good news in the budget on the issue of automatic selection of audit,” he said. Government introduced the Section 214D into the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 through Finance Act 2015 under which a taxpayer is automatically selected for audit if income tax return is not Qiled for the preceding year. The law resulted

in accumulation of audit cases and some estimates suggested that the pendency of audit cases reached to around one million.

Masood said the FBR is also working on streamlining the audit cases. “The board in council of the FBR has recently decided to avoid multiple tax audits under audit

policy.” “It is decided that if a taxpayer selected under Sections 214C or 177 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 during the past year then the FBR will not select the taxpayers for next year,” he added. The members of KTBA criticised tax ofQices for issuing multiple tax audit notices to taxpayers, which resulted

in harassment. KTBA also highlighted the impediments in sales tax registration for industrial and manufacturing units. KTBA ofQicials said there are harsh penalties even on those provisions of tax laws where revenue is not involved.

Member Legal said the FBR is considering reducing the amount of penalty in the coming budget in such cases. On the issuance of return form

by FBR, Masood said the return for tax year 2018 would be issued in the Qirst week of July to enable people to easily Qile their annual returns. KTBA ofQicials said four million commercial and industrial consumers have been given electricity connections, whereas FBR could only receive 1.4 million annual returns. The member legal said the electricity meters were not installed in the name of individuals running industrial or commercial activities.

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ANF arrests ‘mules’ with heroin Wednesday April 11, 2018

National Deputy collector moazzam Raza transfers 19 sepoys, havaldars

LAHORE: The Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) has arrested two passengers and recovered one kg heroin from them at Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIAP).

The arrested, named as Mudasar Ali and Naheed, were travelling to Madina from Lahore. During search, one Kg crystal heroin was recovered from their luggage, said the officials, adding that the both passengers and shifted them to unknown place. A case has been registered and investigation is underway.

customs Export retrieves arrears from defaulters after notices served

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KARACHI

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ollectorate of Customs Preventive Deputy Collector Moazzam Raza has issued a notification for transfers of 19 havaladars and sepoys. According to notification, the deputy collector transferred Havaldar Syed Mukhtar Shah to Railway Station T-10, Sepoy Mohammad Shafique to Air Freight Unit, Nadeem Akhtar Airport Traffic, Izhar Ahmad to Air Freight Unit, Babar Ali to Air Freight Unit, Sepoy Bashir Ahmad to Anti Smuggling Organization, Sepoy Mohammad Awais Sarfraz to Anti Smuggling Organization, Muzaffar Saeed to Anti Smuggling Organization, Shahid Mahmood to Anti Smuggling Organization, Javaid Masih to Anti Smuggling Organization, Sepoy Mohammad Akbar to Anti Smuggling Organization, Sepoy Mohammad Fahim to Land Freight Unit Wagha, Sepoy Rashid Bhatti to Land Freight Unit Wagha, M. Ayub Khan Chisti to Land Freight Unit Wagha, Atif Ali Malik to Railway Station T-10, Malik Mohammad Sangraiz to Railway Station.

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AJk nAB arrests patwari for corruption zad Jammu & Kashmir Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau has arrested patwari Ghulam Sarwar on the charges of tempering the official land record of the State Revenue Department.

AJK Accountability Bureau sources told APP that a team of the AJK Accountability Bureau nabbed the accused Patwari Ghulam Sarwar from the premises of a court of law as soon as his bail-before-arrest plea was turned down by the learned court in the case. According to the prosecution, the arrested accused patwari, during his posting at Mirpur City area, allegedly tempered the land record of the State Revenue (Mhall) Department by re-selling the already-sold piece of state-owned land belonging to the department, sources said.

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he Customs Export has recovered an evaded amount of taxes and duties of Rs8.36million from defaulter companies which were issued with notices to pay the outstanding dues.

Sources told Customs Today that, during a scrutiny of the import data, it was revealed that M/s Wajanti Associate Karachi availed undue beneQits and concessions after importing different consignments of steel scrape by misusing the SRO 568 through Examiner Sabahat A. Siddique on August 12, 2017.

Sources further said that the company was allegedly involved in the tax evasion of Rs4.81million. After detecting the tax evasion, the

Customs Export served on it a Qinal notice on 12th of March 2018 to de-

posit the evaded amount in 14 days.

After receiving the notice, the

management of M/s Wajanti Associate Karachi deposited the evaded amount in the ofQicial account of the Customs Export on 30th of March in favour of the Custom Export.

Another defaulter company named M/s Rafi & Sons also cleared Rs3.55million of taxes and duties. Sources told the correspondent that M/s Rafi & Sons also availed undue benefits and concessions and avoided paying taxes according to the customs bylaws. The Customs Export authorities issued to it a final notice on 15th of March 2018. After receiving the notice, the management of the M/s Rafi & Sons deposited the evaded amount of taxes into the official account. It is to mention here that the Custom Export has uncovered 17 cases in the month of March.

peshawar Dry port earns Rs141 million more revenue in march T

PESHAWAR

IRfAn BAhADuR

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he Customs Dry Port Peshawar has generated Rs141million extra revenue in the month of March of current Financial Year. The dry port collected a total revenue of Rs486.2million in the month of March of current Financial Year against Rs345million collected in March of previous FY2016-17.

The Dry Port earned Rs206million of Customs Duty and an amount of Rs169.91million has been done through Sales Tax in March of current Financial Year.

The Dry Port Peshawar showed Rs58.35million collection as Reduction Duty and an amount of Rs30.40million has been received under the head of Sales Tax on VM palm oil. In the same way, the Dry Port Peshawar

generated Rs79million of AIT in the month of March of current Fiscal Year. The Deputy Collector

Customs Dry Port Peshawar expressed satisfaction over the collection made during March of

current FY and said that more efforts will be made to increase the revenue collection.

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FIA arrests 10 human smugglers in a week FAISALABAD: The Federal Investiagtion Agency (FIA) arrested 10 human smugglers, including two proclaimed offenders, in a special crackdown during the last one week.

According to a spokesman for the FIA, the accused were involved in defrauding people of heavy amounts on the pretext of sending them to foreign countries for employment.

Among the accused include Muhammad Bashir, Muhammad Yaqoob, Shabana, Muhammad Zulfiqar, Khaleeq Rao, Maqsood Khan, Muhammad Azeem, Sarmad Maish, Imran Khan and Rehmat Ali.

nARc introduces new wheat, banana verities ISLAMABAD

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ational Agriculture Research Center has introduced three high-yielding wheat and four banana varieties in order to produce exportable surplus and ensure food safety and security of the country. Additionally, the research institute has also developed three new varieties of potatoes and developed a gene bank comprising upon over 36,000 germplasms of different crops to produce seed varieties to enhance per acre crop output in the country, said Director General National Agriculture Research Center Dr Ghulam M Ali. Briefing the media about the progress and development made so far in research and development fields, he said that due to scientific research country was surplus in all cereal

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food crops including wheat, rice, maize, sugarcane and all other seasonal fruits and vegetables. He said besides providing technical assistance to thousands of farmers, about 32,000 tons of canola hybrid seed were distributed among the farmers to increase oil seed production in the country and saving the foreign exchange reserves spent on the import of the commodity. He informed that the research center in collaboration with international development partners and agencies had prepared disease resistant, drought resilient seed varieties of wheat and hybrid rice and cotton to enhance the their yield and increase the farm income. Several steps have been taken in order to introduce climate smart agriculture technologies to minimize the cost of inputs and maximize output in the country and make many interventions in different fields by engaging the farming community to adopt these interventions, he added.

National

Shc issues notices to customs on petition challenging imposition of regulatory duty on tyres

Issuance of notices causes recovery of Rs9.78m of dues from defaulters KARACHI

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he Customs Export has retrieved an evaded amount of taxes and duties of Rs9.78million from defaulter companies which were issued with notices to pay the arrears.

Sources told Customs Today that, during a scrutiny of the import data, it was revealed that M/s Kaleem and Sons availed undue benefits and concessions after importing different consignments by misusing the SRO 561 through Examiner Waham Nusrat on October 2017. Sources further said that the company was allegedly involved in the tax evasion of Rs6.58million. After detecting the tax evasion in the end month of March 2018, the Customs Export served on it a final notice on 20th of March, 2018 to deposit the evaded amount within 14 days. After 13 days of notice, the management of M/s Kaleem and Sons deposited the evaded amount in the official account of the Customs Export on 2nd of April. On the other hand, the management of the M/s Humayon Associates also cleared Rs3.20million of taxes and duties.

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KARACHI

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he Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the Customs Department and deputy attorney general on a constitutional petition filed by M/s Ayesha Marriam (Private) Limited, challenging Valuation Ruling number 1035(1)/2017, imposing regulatory duty (RD) on a number of items, including the tyres imported by the petitioner.

While the hearing of petition, a two-member bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, also directed them to file their respective para wise comments on the next date of hearing. Earlier, counsel for the petitioner stated that it is aggrieved by arbitrary, illegal and mala fide action of the respondents which issued SRO 1035 (1)/2017 on October 16, 2017 and imposed regulatory duty on a number of items, including tyres falling under chapter Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) being the first schedule to the act 1969. Citing Secretary Ministry of Finance, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue, Collector of Customs

Wednesday April 11, 2018

Appraisement East, Collector of Customs Appraisement West and Collector of Customs Appraisement Port Muhammad Bin Qasim as respondents, the petitioner pleaded the court to declare the act of the respondents as illegal,

mala fide and arbitrary. He also pleaded the court may to aside impugned valuation ruling and restrain them from taking any coercive action against the petitioner till final order in this constitutional petition.

nAB to investigate Ameer muqam’s assets

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ISLAMABAD

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he National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday initiated investigations against the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ameer Muqam, for the accumulation of wealth beyond his known sources of income.

The decision to authorise the investigation was made in a NAB meeting presided over by NAB chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal.

The NAB spokesman said in an ofQicial press release that the meeting held at the NAB headquarters

had authorised four new inquiries.

Mr Muqam, Maulana Amir Zaman, Abdul Malik Kakar and Peshawar District Nazim Asim Khan will all be investigated for allegedly amassing assets beyond their declared sources of income.

Justice Iqbal directed NAB’s KP director general to verify allegations against Mr Muqam. The ruling party in the province, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), had also accused the ex-MNA of being involved in massive Qinancial corruption over the last 15 years and had requested NAB to launch a probe. The PTI had claimed that Ameer Muqam had managed to embezzle millions of ru-

pees every year during the last 10 years while overseeing the construction of the Swat-Bisham road.

The PTI alleged that instead of working to develop the deprived district, the provincial PML-N president had made mansions for himself in every city of the country. Almost all the top leadership of the PML-N is currently under investigation on corruption charges, including ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and Railway Minister Khawaja Saad RaQique. Presiding over another meeting, the NAB chairman authorised Balochistan

NAB director general to verify a complaint against MNA Maulana Ameer Zaman for the alleged misappropriation of development funds and amassing wealth beyond his means. He was also asked to investigate complaints against Balochistan MPA Abdul Malik Kakar for embezzling development funds. In addition to the probes in Balochistan, the NAB chief instructed the NAB director general in KP to investigate allegations against Peshawar District Nazim Mohammed Asim Khan for misuse of funds and distributing money among loyal employees without fulfilling legal requirements.

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Tesla facing risk of steeper China taxes adds to Musk’s Woes

World Customs

BEIJING: Tesla Inc. needs to brace for another setback after China included electric cars among American products that it would hit with additional tariffs in a counterpunch to the U.S. Other American auto imports also made the list of products China is threatening including SUVs, which could even impact BMW AG and Daimler AG. But Tesla is at particular risk. The Elon Musk-led carmaker relies on U.S.-built vehicles for all its Chinese sales, whereas U.S. carmakers General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co.

Wednesday April 11, 2018

pound to nZ dollar Vegetable seed production exchange rate forecast logistic hub launched in penang

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WILLINGTON

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AMSTERDAM

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he Netherland-based Enza Zaden Asia Holding Sdn Bhd has ofQicially opened a headquarters and logistics hub at the Penang Science Park in Batu Kawan here with total investment value of RM50 million. The investment was accomplished through discussions sealed between the company and the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) back in 2015.

Its chief operating ofQicer Jaap Mazereeuw said that the company, which has been producing high quality vegetable seeds for 80 years, had planned to expand their business due to encouraging demands from the people who need nutritious food products. The growing number of population has challenged the farmers to provide nutritious food products. However,

Smuggling f black pepper to India on the rise muggling of black pepper into India from Nepal is growing in the past few months. District Police Office, Bara, seized a mini-truck after finding 60 quintals of black pepper being smuggled to India. Police stopped the truck for surprise inspection at a bordering village in Pacharauta Municipality-9. Bara Police had deputed a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhuvanehswar Prasad Sah after receiving tip-off that black pepper brought from Birgunj was being smuggled to India. The black pepper is worth around Rs 12 million, according to the police. Earlier police had seized a pickup truck carrying 50 sacks of black pepper from Simraungadh. A police team led by Sub Inspector Shyam Kishor Yadav of Area Police Office, Mahendra Adarsha, also arrested the driver. –CB Report

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they are faced with soil problems which caused the plants to be susceptible to disease, resulting in huge losses. “Hence, as experts in producing the vegetable seeds, we want to solve the problems faced by the farmers by conducting research and produce seeds using the latest technology, which is aligned to the modernisation of farming,” he said after the launching ceremony here today.

The launching ceremony was graced by special adviser to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman. Also present was NCIA chief executive ofQicer Datuk Redza RaQiq. Jaap said that the vegetable seeds produced by his company was not only of high quality, but also long-lasting and resistant to pests, and the soil also does not require additional fertiliser.

Russia bans agricultural imports from Abkhazia

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osselkhoznadzor claimed that ‘in order to prevent the spread of a dangerous object [the stink bug] to the territory of the Russian Federation and to preserve the export potential of the country’, they had decided to introduce ‘temporary restrictions on imports’.

Crops in Abkhazia, and especially its eastern Gali District populated almost exclusively by ethnic Georgians have been devastated

by the stink bug. Many farmers abandoned harvesting their hazelnut crops entirely last year. Earlier this week, Russia’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Dzhambulat Khatuov said that Russia was ready to pay Abkhazia 1,000 ($17) per kilogramme for stink bugs. According to him, this was necessary to manufacture anti-stink bug pheromone traps, and to ‘study their genetics’. –CB Report

he Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate has seen a moderate decline on 4thApril, following the news that the UK construction sector has contracted in March. Looking ahead, the Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate could see further losses on the release of PMI. The latest manufacturing PMI showed unexpected growth, but as mentioned above the latest construction PMI showed sector contraction during March.

The last UK PMI reading of the week will also be the most important of the three, consisting of a measure of services sector activity during March. The UK services sector is the largest single contributor to UK economic growth, so any signs of a slowdown can have major negative impact on the Pound’s value.

With that in mind, a forecastmatching services PMI slowdown on 5th April could trigger noticeable

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Pound losses. Looking further ahead, there is a chance of a Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate recovery on an Irish border breakthrough. The status of the border after Brexit remains unresolved, with UK and EU ofQicials advocating alternate solutions to the situation.

The last update was the EU’s request for the UK to provide its own solution to the problem; if this is forthcoming in the near-term then the Pound could rally. Pressure is building for a viable solution to be found to the problem, given that Brexit talks are supposed to be ‘ofQicially’ concluded by October 2018.

Meanwhile, The Employment Relations Amendment Bill is currently before select committee and seeks to restore minimum standards and protections for employees. The bill wants to remove the 90-day trial period for companies who employ more than twenty people. Outside of the bill, the government is also mooting the idea of abolishing the youth wage.

Thailand slaps investors with Taxes n a move which afQirms the careful stance Thailand has taken up toward cryptocurrencies, the country’s military government is looking to implement new laws for regulating the burgeoning cryptocurrency market by introducing taxation on digital currencies.

As reported by Nikkei Asian Review, the development was announced by Thailand’s Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong, followed by a weekly cabinet meeting. Tantivorawong conQirmed that as per the new laws, investors are obligated to pay a Qlat 7% valueadded tax on all cryptocurrency ex-

changes, together with a 15% capital gains tax on returns from crypto investments. This development comes a few weeks after the Central Bank of Thailand banned Qinancial institutions in the country from engaging in cryptocurrencies.

A royal decree draft concerning regulation of crypto taxation in order to curb theft and tax evasion has also recently been approved by the Cabinet of Thailand. Meanwhile, One of the more interesting examples in this regard is Thailand. The Asian nation has a military regime which has been quite vocal about cryptocurrencies in the past. –CB Report

china implements first environmental protection tax

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he Qirst green tax protection for the environment was formally implemented this year. As a tax subject to be declared on a quarterly basis, the environmental tax on April 1st ushered in the Qirst levy. In order to strengthen environmental protection,

China’s environmental protection tax was introduced in the previous years to increase environmental protection taxes, this was to strengthen the collection and management of high pollution and high emission companies. At the end of 2016, the environmental protection tax was approved by the National People’s Congress and ofQicially implemented this year. This is also the Qirst green tax in China, as per

Sohu. The objects of taxation for environmental protection taxes are mainly enterprises and public institutions, and the objects to be taxed are air pollutants, water pollutants, solid waste and noise. In terms of tax rate, in addition to the uniQied tax rate for solid wastes and noise throughout the country, the environmental tax law gives the provinces certain discretionary power over speciQic tax rates for atmospheric

pollutants and water pollutants. Director of Yanqing, Property Tax Department of Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Taxation, introduced that, in order to fully guarantee the smooth and orderly application of the Qirst levy, the municipal taxation department added a special window for environmental tax declaration in the Tax OfQice to ensure the orderly acceptance of taxpayers, as per Sohu.

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Japan doubles oil imports from Russia TOKYO: Imports of crude from Russia to Japan more than doubled in February compared to the previous month, according to the latest report by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

In February, exports of Russian Sokol crude to Japan grew to 223,000 kiloliters from 112,000 kiloliters in January, while crude deliveries from the ESPO (Eastern Siberian Pacific Ocean) pipeline increased by 35 percent month-on-month to 355,000 kiloliters. At the same time, Japan purchased 379,000 kiloliters of Sakhalin crude oil, which is four-and-a-half times more than during the previous month.

South korea to suspend tariff concessions on uS imports

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he World Trade Organization (WTO) said Friday that South Korea is to suspend tariff concessions on certain goods from the United States due to tariffs imposed by Washington on solar cells and washing machines responsible for around 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in annual trade. “The Republic of Korea notifies the Council for Trade in Goods that it has decided to suspend substantially equivalent concessions and other obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 to the trade of the United States,” a WTO notice said. The measures are in response to U.S. safeguard measures against imported solar cells and residential washers, according to WTO official documents filed in Geneva by South Korea, notifying that its meas-

Ports & Shipping

Traders expect more cuts in malaysian log exports S

KUALA LUMPUR

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peculation is growing that Malaysia’s exports of tropical logs will decline further as logging volume continues to fall in a key region in the Southeast Asian country due to tougher environmental regulations and bad weather.

The state of Sarawak, in northwestern Borneo, in July 2017 cut its export quota to 20% of total logging volume, down from 30% previously.

“I have not heard that it was decided by the [local] government. But such rumors are spreading among local exporters,” said the president of a Tokyo-based lumber trading company, referring to rumors that Sarawak will cut its export quota to 10% of production volume as early as July, eventually banning exports entirely. While the possible second quota reduction in a year is widely seen as a continuation of Sarawak’s current policy, an ofQicial at a major Japanese trading house said the anticipated move is aimed at allocating more logs to domestic plywood makers, who are suffering from a

shortage of unprocessed wood.

Tropical logs imported from Malaysia and elsewhere are used for home interiors and plywood.

Japan’s imports of tropical wood from Sarawak have been sliding for a while. According to the Japan Lumber Importers’ Association, imports fell 24% in 2017 from a year earlier to 40,689 cu. meters.

Meanwhile, Planned changes include the creation of a ferry terminal by 2021, deepening the

port to 16 metres, widening the entrance to the port by 40 metres, and development of wharves. Port of Gdynia CEO Adam Meller said that this heralds “a time of great investment and great changes” for the port. The investment in the port’s facilities is happening as the government invests in local transport infrastructure, with two railway lines being expanded to give the port better links to urban areas.

Wednesday April 11, 2018

Russia SpVc imports up 19% in Q1 ussia’s SPVC (solution polyvinyl chloride) imports rose 19% in the January to March 2018 period year on year to 5,700 tonnes, according to MRC’s DataScope report on Friday. Russian producers managed to increase their SPVC exports by 50%, the data showed. March SPVC imports grew to 1,900 tonnes from 1,200 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall imports of resin to Russia totalled 5,700 tonnes in January-March 2018, compared to 4,800 tonnes a year earlier. At the same time, Russian producers were forced to ship resin for export more actively this year, export sales increased 1.5 times.

Chinese producers have been the key foreign SPVC suppliers to Russia for the past several years. March imports of Chinese acetylene process resin grew to 1,900 tonnes from 800 tonnes a month earlier. Overall imports of resin from China were 5,100 tonnes in the first three months of 2018, compared to 3,900 tonnes a year earlier. –CB Report

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four ships take berth at port Qasim KARACHI

ures apply to “equivalent concessions” which are not yet named. The U.S. administration decided in January to impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on imported washers for the next three years, and up to 30 percent on solar cells and modules for the next four years. In its documents, South Korea said the U.S. measures affect almost 304 million dollars in washing machine products on which Washington collected 152 million dollars in duties in 2017, and 1.1 billion dollars of solar panel imports which accrued duties to the Americans of 330 million dollars in 2017. –CB Report

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our ships, Maersk Kinloss, APL Miami, NCC Maha and Maritime Setoshio scheduled to load/ofQload Containers, Edible oil and Clinker took berths at Qasim International Container Terminal, Liquid Cargo Terminal and PIB Terminal respectively.

Ten ships namely, Maersk Kinloss, APL Miami, IVS Windsor, Navios Achilles, NCC Maha, White Fin, Riva Wind, LNG Magdala, Maritime Setoshio and Alpine Penelope are currently occupying PQA berths to load/ofQload Containers, Coal, Edible Oil, Wheat, LNG, Palm oil and Diesel oil/Mogas respectively during last 24 hour. A cargo volume of 115172 tonnes, comprising 95069 tonnes, import cargo and 20103 tonnes export cargo inclusive of

containerized cargo carried in 2,224 Containers (TEUs) (1,888 TEUs imports and 3,36 TEUs exports) was handled at the Port during last 24 hours. Two ships Riva Wind and LNG Mahdala sailed out to sea on Wednesday morning, While two more ships Alpine Penelope and MSK Konloss are expected

to sail on same day in the afternoon.

Total three ships, MV. Alshumail, Pangloris and Tempanos are expected to take berths at EETL. Meanwhile, Shipping activity remained active at the Port where three ships, Tempanos, Pan Gloris and AlShumal carrying Containers, Steel Coil and LNG were allotted berths at

Qasim International Container Terminal, Multi-purpose Terminal and Engro Elengy Terminal respectively on April-2018. Another ship, Gaschem PaciQic carrying Chemicals also arrived at outer anchorage of Port during last 24 hours.A total of nine ships namely, Tempanos, APL Miami, White Fin, Maritime Setoshio, Pan Gloris, Navios Achilles, IVS Windsor, Al-Shumail and NCC Maha are currently occupying PQA berths to load/ofQload Containers, Wheat, Clinker, Project cargo, Coal, LNG and Palm oil respectively during last 24 hours. A record cargo handling was achieved at the Port on Wednesday, where a cargo volume of 202,478 tonnes, comprising 131,644 tonnes import cargo and 70,834 tonnes export cargo inclusive of containerized cargo carried in 4,373 Containers (TEUs), (1,800 TEUs imports and 2,573 TEUs exports) was handled during last 24 hours.

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‘Efforts underway to present public-friendly budget in Balochistan’ Wednesday April 11, 2018

Business

QUETTA: Advisor to Chief Minister Balochistan for Finance Dr. Ruqia Saeed Hashmi said measures were taken to attain useful suggestions from stakeholders, budget experts and finance department officials regarding Budget 2018-19. She said this while addressing at a seminar of Governance & Policy Project (GPP) which was organized by the finance department On the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary Naseebullah Bazai, Secretary Finance Qamar Masood, Secretary Planning Asfand Yar, GPP Coordinator Mehfooz Ali Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, officials and others were also present.

‘cpEc become top regional cooperation projects’ ISLAMABAD

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inister for Planning, Development, and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had become one of the top regional cooperation projects in the world which will connect Central Asia, China, and South Asia. “CPEC is proving to be oxygen for Pakistan as the country’s economic growth increased due to huge investment being made in infrastructure and energy sector under the mega project,” Ahsan Iqbal said while addressing CEO’s Forum at Boao Forum in China.

IITfc lends pakistan $3.285 billion TUNIS

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According to a press release received here, the minister said that

‘Sindh govt pursues progressive tax policy, maintains lowest tax rate’

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he International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation has agreed to lend Pakistan $3.285 billion, its chief executive said. “We will supply Pakistan with $3 billion to finance trade activities for a period of three years,” Hani Salam Sonbol said, adding that the remaining $285 million would be to finance gasoline purchases. Jeddah-based International Islamic Trade Finance Corp is the financing arm of the Islamic Development Bank for trade activities.

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all groups and political parties in the country were supporting the

project to ensure success of CPEC. He said Pakistan Vision 2025 was meant not only for development but its main target was also to eradicate poverty from the country. Iqbal said CPEC helped the country to come out of energy crisis and with the uninterrupted supply of electricity to industries, the industrial production had significantly increased besides creation of thousands of new job opportunities. Regarding Gwadar port, Iqbal said it would emerge as the top sea port of Asia. He informed that the CPEC projects were approved on the basis of solid feasibility studies. He said under CPEC, nine industrial zones were being constructed across the country which will create numerous new jobs.

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KARACHI

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indh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the Sindh Government pursues a progressive tax policy rather than a regressive one with low tax rate as its cardinal component.

Consequently, no new tax was levied in the budget 2017-18, announced on June 5, 2017, maintaining the standard rate at 13 per cent, the lowest in any tax domain in the country, he said.

This he said while talking to Chairman SRB Khalid Mahmood who presented him SRB annual report 2016-17 here at CM House, said a statement. The CM Sindh said the revenue target of Rs 100 billion set for FY 2017-18 poses an enormous challenge. He urged the SRB employees to employ all resources and put in their best efforts to achieve this target without compromising organization’s taxpayer-friendly image, espoused over the years. The report presented him by Chairman SRB Khalid Mahmood says 2016-17

was marked by a certain salience.

The standard rate was reduced from 14 to 13 per cent, while the annual target was scaled up 28 per cent over the previous year, to Rs 78 billion. This was a daunting challenge given that the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) was already confronted with a shrinking revenue space owing to the year-on-year incremental revenue expansion, since its start of the operations in 2011-12. The ports and terminal operators, telecommunication, insurance and banks remained the principal contributors.

Realtors stage sit-in to protest against new taxes LAHORE

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epresentatives of the real estate sector has staged a sit-in on Charing Cross (Faisal Chowk) and held a protest rally across the city against the increase in tax on property transactions. Unlike other protests, a great majority of the protesters came on their SUVs, trucks and motorcycles, waving banners and placards for this one. They also played recorded slogans on the speakers fixed on the trucks. Lahore Real Estate Association leader Chaudhry Naeem led the rally in which realtors from across the city participated. Naeem said that the business of the real estate was on the verge of collapse due to the imposition of new taxes and it had become difficult for realtors to earn their bread and butter. “The government has not fulfilled its commitment of bringing down the existing tax-ratio on real estate sector to the level of what it was in 2016,” the protesting realtors said, adding that real estate sector was facing tough circumstances due to the flawed policies of the government. They said that although the government generated revenue worth billions of rupees from the sector annually, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was hell bent on destroying the sector and was imposing new taxes.

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Shc orders fIA remove objectionable material from social media karachi

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he Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of the province to ensure the removal of objectionable videos from the Internet, including social media, showing a Hindu teenage boy being sexually assaulted in the Sujawal district.

The directives came during a hearing of a petition of rights activist Karamat Ali and others seeking the registration of an FIR against a lawmaker’s son and other men who sodomised the boy, Prakash, in the Darro area. The petitioners submitted that Arbab Abrahim Memon, who is the son of MNA Arbab Rameezuddin Memon from Sujawal, along with his accomplices, had sexually assaulted the boy and uploaded a

video on social networking sites.

They said the incident was reported in the print and electronic media, but no action had been taken against the culprits. The court was requested to provide protection to the victim and his family and direct the police to register an FIR. After the preliminary hearing of the petition, the high court issued notices to the additional advocate general of Sindh and other

respondents and sought their comments. The court directed the SSP Sujawal to ensure that a statement of the victim was recorded within a day under Section 154 of the CrPC. The court ordered that the compliance report be filed before the next date of the hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel, Shahid Hussain Soomro, stated that the video clip having objectionable material had become viral on social media. He sought an order for its

removal. The court observed that no one could be allowed to defame and disgrace the honour and respect of any person. It directed the FIA DG to ensure that the video clip was not flashed on social media and was removed forthwith. The hearing was adjourned till April 10.

A day earlier, showing their concerns over reports of the gang rape of Prakash, civil society activists demanded of the government to immediately arrest the culprits.

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ICCI calls for withdrawal of hike in sales tax on POL products ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry has called upon the government to immediately withdraw hike in sales tax on some POL products as it would put additional burden on consumers and enhance the cost of doing business in the country. He urged that government should also pass on full benefits of reduced oil prices in international market to the consumers. Sheikh Amir Waheed said that FBR vide its SRO No.414(1)/2018 issued on 31st March 2018 has further enhanced sales tax on Motor Spirit from 17 percent to 21.5 percent and on High Speed Diesel Oil from 25.5 percent to 27.5 percent which was not justified. He said that government was already charging Rs.8 per liter petroleum levy on HSD, Rs.10 on petrol, Rs.6 on light diesel oil and Rs.3 on kerosene oil while further increase in sales tax on some POL products would surge transportation cost and increase inflation leading to further dent in business activities.

govt will abolish regulatory duty on steel: pervez malik

Wednesday April 11, 2018

Chambers

RccI to hold seminar to create awareness among taxpayers

LAHORE

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ederal Minister for Commerce & Textile Muhammd Pervez Malik has said that regulatory duty on steel will be abolished while government has deffered second phase of FTA with China on demand of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. While talking to the LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid, in an exclusive meeting on Wednesday, Federal Minister said that concrete measures are being taken to boost the country’s exports. Secretary Commerce Mr. Javed, DG Trade Policy Muhammad Ashraf and LCCI Secretary General Shahid Khalil were also present. Pervez Malik said that new and

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unconventional avenues are being focused for Pakistani merchandise to yeild the desired results. He said that role of business community is important for economic stability of the country which is highest priority of the present regime. He said that government has opened all economic areas to achieve the goals of economic growth. He urged the private sector to become proactive to meet international standards & better marketing of products to compete effectively. Pervez Malik said that businessmen should identify hurdles in the way of value addition of products and share with government to address problems. He urged businessmen to explore the untapped markets of middle east and Europe which offer good potential for improving trade and exports. He said businessmen should come up with creative solutions for improving tax revenue.

RAWALPINDI

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he Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has organised a seminar as a part of its Tax Day to create awareness among the traders to pay their taxes regularly at Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). Additional Commissioner Rawalpindi Saadia Akmal, Shafqat Rasool Sindhu and Raja Adnan Assistant commissioner, Group Leaders Suhail Altaf, SM Naseem, Senior Vice President Nasir Mirza, Vice President Khalid Farooq Qazi, former presidents, members of the executive committee, representatives from trade associations, among others, also attended the seminar.

Addressing the audience, PRA Additional Commissioner Saadia Akmal said that payment of taxes was the prime responsibility of the people and in this regard, an awareness campaign had been launched to motivate the masses to pay taxes properly. She said that Punjab Revenue Authority was collecting taxes on more than 50 services after 18th amendment while

the tax had been decreased over 11 services from 16 percent to 5 percent after consulting the stakeholders. Additional Commissioner Shafqat Rasool Sindhu said that for the Qirst nine months of Qiscal year, PRA has collected 35 hundred million rupee revenue for Rawalpindi region, and hopefully we will achieve the target of 45 hundred million. PRA will provide maximum facility and assistance to

business community with respect to tax collection and their concerns and queries will be addressed on priority basis, he added. Tax day will be observed on April 10, he informed. President RCCI Zahid Latif Khan, addressing the seminar said that traders are not against the taxes, however, harassment should be stopped in the name of tax collections, registration of business centers

fpccI asks fBR to reactivate ADR committee KARACHI

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he Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), in its pre-budget proposals, has urged the government to reactivate the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (ADRC) and provide the taxpayers an easy and efQicient mechanism for resolution of tax related disputes, outside the court of law and liquidate huge amount of tax arrears. The FPCCI pre-budget proposals are being prepared by the FPCCI Advisory Council under the Chairmanship of Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir, Sr. Vice President, FPCCI. The proposals argued that a huge amount of tax arrears is lying pending for liquidation and payment to both the stakeholders – Taxpayers

and FBR – due to inordinate delay in completion of litigation process.

It added that the active and prominent members be selected from legal fraternity, public, FBR and private sectors (FPCCI & Chambers) and their Proper rules may be framed for formation of the Committee, scope of work, conduction of ADRC proceedings, stay of matter/demand, disposal of application by the ADRC Committee, retention of record, remuneration for members of ADRC etc.

Meanwhile, The Businessmen Panel (BMP) has demanded to reopen the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Balochistan OfQice in Quetta, so that Baluchistan based Chambers of Commerce and trade associations may initiate close coordination with the FPCCI which is much needed. In a statement, Chairman BMP, Mian An-

jum Nisar said from the last one year the FPCCI Regional OfQice Quetta was closed due to inadequate funds which is injustice of the sitting management towards Balochistan business community. Balochistan is a very important province how President FPCCI ignore its regional ofQice from the last one year BMP Chief added and demanded from the Chief Minister Balcohistan Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo to provide a plot for the construction of the FPCCI Regional OfQice and similarly Commerce Ministry may put agenda in the meeting EDF for the state of the art building in the city of Quetta for the FPCCI. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was a golden opportunity for Balochistan. The youth belonging to the province could get prominent status in the CPEC by getting education in the Qields of science and technology he added.

and multiple audits and misuse of discretionary powers of inland revenue ofQicers. He suggested that incentives should be introduced for broadening the tax base and tax rather squeezing the existing tax payers. The anomalies in the income tax ordinance should be removed and overlapping of tax authorities with respect to Qilings and registration should be rationalized, he added.

Rawal Expo 2018 to start from today Five-day International Rawal Expo 2018 will start here on April 11 at Topi Rakh Auditorium, Ayub Park and all arrangements in this regard are being finalized by Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). Addressing a press conference here Wednesday, President RCCI Zahid Latif Khan informed, a federal minister would be chief guest at the inaugural ceremony to be held on April 11. Group Leaders, Suhail Altaf, SM Naseem, Senior Vice President Nasir Mirza, Vice President Khalid Farooq Qazi, former RCCI presidents, Chairman Expo Committee Malik Shahid Saleem, members of the executive Committee, representatives from trade associations and RCCI members were present on the occasion.

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Excise Police seizes 25kg charas KARACHI: Sindh Excise Police Obauro during a raid led by Excise Inspector Qamar uddin Sayal recovered 25 kilogram Charas from a truck and arrested an accused namely Wahid Ullah Pathan. A case has been registered against the accused and the investigation is underway while the truck has been impounded as well,said a statement.Meanwhile in a statement, Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation & Narcotics Control Mukesh Kumar Chawla, while congratulating on a successful raid by Obauro Excise Police, has directed the officers to improve their performance.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

multan customs generates revenue of Rs3520.412 million MULTAN ImRAn ALI

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he Collectorate of Customs has successfully collected Rs.3520.412 million during the month of March 2017-18.

According to available statistics revealed by Customs Collectorate, Federal Board of Revenue has assigned huge collection target of Rs3616.61 million under the heads of customs duty, sales tax, federal excise duty and income tax for the month of March 2017-18.

During March of Financial Year 2017-18, the Collectorate generated Rs.1160.137 million under the head of customs duty (CD) by exceeding 20 % collection in the month of March while it was assigned the revenue collection target of Rs.1095.210 million. Multan Customs has witnessed growth in collection of customs duty due to their effective strategy and on time clearance of the import batches cleared from Multan Dry Port. The Collectorate received higher customs duty than the previous months of the Qiscal year due to impressive performance of the Multan Customs. The Collectorate of Customs has collected Rs960.065 million during the corre-

sponding period of the March 201617. The Customs Collectorate has collected Rs2343.108 million under the head of sales taxes against the assigned target of Rs2468.17 million during the month of March. Multan

Customs could not meet the revenue collection task of sales taxes due to slight decline in the clearances of HSD consignments. The Collectorate was able to collect Rs.2189.752 million in the matching period of the

economic year 2016-17. Multan Customs collected federal excise duty (FED) of Rs7.513 million against the set target of Rs.30.44 million throughout the month of March of Qiscal year 2017-18. It has generated

Rs.9.467 million under the head of income tax against target of Rs.22.79 million in March FY-2017-18. Multan Customs has also collected Rs.0.187 million in wake of additional sales tax during March.

Anf seizes 1.877 tons drugs, 2.52 tons Acetic Anhydride RAWALPINDI

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nti Narcotics Force (ANF) Pakistan has seized 1.877 tons narcotics and 2.52 tons Acetic Anhydride worth Rs 1.5 billion in international market and arrested 29 persons including six women and three foreigners involved in drug smuggling.

According to an ANF spokesman, ANF also impounded

nine vehicles while conducting 24 counter-narcotics strikes across the country. He informed that the seized drugs comprised 1826 kg Hashish, 40 kg Opium, 5.5 kg Amphetamine, 5.5 kg Heroin, 200 grams Cocaine and 2520 liters Acetic Anhydride.

ANF Quetta seized mega cache of drugs comprising 1792 kg Hashish, 2520 liters Acetic Anhydride and 40 kg Opium in Qive separate intelligence based operations conducted at Qilla Abdullah, Panjgur, Kech and Quetta. In two separate operations, ANF Rawalpindi arrested two Nigerians identiQied

as Chimamkpam Anthony and Henry Onuaha at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad and recovered 870 gram and 315 gram Heroin respectively from their personal possession.

In another operation, ANF Rawalpindi arrested an accused namely Gul Sher r/o Peshawar and recovered four kg Hashish from his personal possession. He was arrested near Bus Stop Sohawa, main GT Road, Jehlum. In third operation, ANF Rawalpindi Airport team in collaboration with ASF arrested six accused IdentiQied as Aftab Ahmed, Fahad Ul

Hassan, Salma Fayyaz, Samra Rani, Irum Shehzadi all r/o Gujrat and ShaQique Ahmed r/o of Sargodha at Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad and recovered Qive kg Amphetamine from their trolley bags. In fourth operation, ANF Rawalpindi intercepted a car near Ahmed Arcade, Bahria Expressway, Phase-VIII, Bahria Town, Rawalpindi and recovered three kg Hashish and 200 grams Amphetamine. Two accused identiQied as Sheraz Ahmed Baig r/o Islamabad and a female, Manahil r/o Karachi were arrested. In Qifth operation, ANF Rawalpindi inter-

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cepted a car near Dolphin Chowk, Bahria Town Phase-VIII, Rawalpindi and recovered 2.4 kg Hashish and 150 grams Amphetamine. Two accused identiQied as Muhammad Javed r/o Hangu and Umar Saeed r/o Nowshera were arrested at the spot. In sixth operation, ANF Rawalpindi arrested two women identiQied as Rabia Hafeez r/o Islamabad and Asia Shaheen r/o Lahore on recovery of 2.4 kg Hashish and 200 grams Amphetamine from their personal possession. They were arrested near Shaheen Chowk, Bahria Town, Phase-VII, Rawalpindi.