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ISLAMABAD

TARIQ DERYA

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he Model Customs Collectorate Islamabad collected a high amount of Rs2353million of Sales Tax before ending of 2nd quarter period against an earmarked collection target of Rs1204million. So the huge net gain is Rs1149million. According to details given by Saeed Khan Jadoon, Collector Model Customs Collectorate

(MCC) Islamabad, that the collectorate earned R1149million extra Sales Tax (ST) during the two months and three weeks (1st October to 21st December) Financial Year (FY) 2017-18 against an allocated revenue target of ST. The collectorate showed 195% achievement against an assigned revenue target for 2nd quarter of FY1718. The Collector MCC Islamabad told CT that the Collectorate of Islamabad received Rs875million as ST during 21 days of December while it was earmarked Rs492million of ST for the whole month of December FY1718.

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During said period, the collectorate displayed 177.77% of growth during Kirst 21 days of December FY17-18 against an allocated revenue collection target for the month of December. Saeed Khan Jadoon told the correspondent that, during the month of November FY17-18, the collectorate got Rs680million against an earmarked revenue collection target of Rs421million. H informed CT that, during abovementioned period, the collectorate collected extra revenue of Rs259million against an assigned revenue target of ST during the month of November FY17-18. During said period, the collectorate posted 161.44 % of gain against an earmarked revenue collection target under the head of ST.

Customs Islamabad posts 195% revenue gain against earmarked target

Customs North Region performs as usual better with Rs3628m extra revenue

Following of customs bylaws has given patent results on imports & exports

China’s customs seize 323,000 tonnes of smuggled waste

Customs Torkham earns Rs105.8m more revenue than yesteryear’s

MCC Islamabad collected a high amount of Rs2353million of Sales Tax | SEE pAgE 01 |

Customs North Region received an additional revenue of Rs3628.00m | SEE pAgE 02 |

Gul Rehman MCC Peshawar, said proper examination, assessment and facilitation | SEE pAgE 04 |

Customs in 13 Chinese provincial regions seized 323,000 tonnes | SEE pAgE 07 |

Torkham Customs Station has generated Rs541.84million revenue in 23 days | SEE pAgE 08 |

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Customs BBIA Accompanied Baggage impounds currencies & goods Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Islamabad

ISLAMBAD: The Customs Accompanied Baggage at the Benazir Bhutoo International Airport Islamabad seized the smuggling currencies and diﬀerent items worth Rs16.62million during 1st July to 15th of December 2017. According to details given by Ali Asad, Assistant Collector, Accompanied Baggage (AB) of Benazir Bhutoo International Airport (BBIA) Islamabad, that, during above said period, the AB conﬁscated 100,000 Saudi Raiyals, $59000, Rs56100, Rs13570 and 5900 Indonesian currency. The AB also impounded 28 non-duty-paid auto-parts valued at Rs7739.

customs north Region performs as usual better with Rs3628m extra revenue

ISLAMABAD

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TARIQ DERYA

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he number of Income Tax return filers has declined to 1.07 million during the current fiscal year as compared with the last years 1.2 million. According to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), though the Board showed an impressive 19 percent revenue growth in the current year and the number of Income Tax return filers had also risen to 1.2 million as per figures of Tax Year 2016, the number of filers for the current year had declined to 1.07 million with a majority of them not contributing any tax in all categories. To the dismay of FBR, the number of registered tax-filer companies had also fallen from 32,391 in 2016 to just 3,333 in 2017 as per data. A further breakdown of the data reveals that in 2014, 29,528 companies filed IT returns and contributed Rs349 billion to national exchequer. But out of 29,528 companies 14,440 or 48.9 percent (means about half) didn’t pay any tax. Then in 2015 number of companies which filed income tax returns rose to 31,265 and contributed Rs390 billion as tax. The companies which paid zero tax slightly rose as they were 15,506 or 49.6 percent in round figure about 50 percent.

he Customs North Region received an additional revenue of Rs3628.00million against an earmarked revenue collection target during five and a half months of Fiscal Year 2017-18 as all duties and taxes. According to details given Chief Collector, North Region, comprising Customs Collectorates of Islamabad, Peshawar, Sambrial and Gilgit-Baltistan, that, during said period, the North Region collected Rs19449million revenue against an earmarked revenue collection target of Rs15821million under all the duties and taxes while it generated Rs15194million under the same head during the same period of corresponding FY16-17. She notified that, during 1st of July to 15th of December 2017-18, the Customs Collectorate Islamabad received Rs7662million revenue against an assigned proportional revenue target of Rs5984million as all taxes while the Islamabad Collectorate collected Rs5683million under the same head during the same period of previous FY16-17. The correspondent that the Collectorate of Peshawar earned Rs10362million of revenue against an earmarked proportional revenue collection target of Rs9068million

number of IT returns declines to 1.07 million

under the head of all duties and taxes during Kive months and 15 days of FY17-18 whereas Peshawar generated Rs8058million under all the heads during the same period of corresponding FY16-17. The Collectorate of Samberial got Rs889million against an allocated rev-

enue collection target of Rs1388million during above period of FY17-18 while Samberial collected Rs-593million under all the heads during the same period of previous FY16-17. The Collectorate of GilgitBaltistan (GB) earned Rs2313million of revenue under all the heads

against an allocated proportional revenue target of Rs2157million under all the heads during 1st July to 15th of December FY17-18 whereas it got Rs2044million under the same head during the same period of FY16-17, Chief Collector North Region added.

Ihc relists cases for hearing filed against customs I&I and ATIR

ISLAMABAD

nAEEm uLLAh TARIQ www.customsbulletin.com

he Islamabad High Court (IHC) relisted cases for hearing involving Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation, and Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue. A division bench of the IHC comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan relisted the cases to be heard in coming days. DG Intelligence and Investigation

had Kiled a case against Malik Muhammad Ajmal Khan. M/s Comfort Sales Corporation had Kiled case against ATIR and customs department. M/s Comfort Sales Corporation had challenged the act of recovery of said amount by commissioner Inland Revenue of Large Taxpayer’s Unit, Islamabad. ATIR was also made respondent in the case as the tribunal had sustained departmental decision regarding issuance of show cause notice and demand of recovery of

outstanding tax amount in head of federal excise duty (FED). M/s

Comfort Sales Corporation had prayed the court that FBR office

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

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ul Rehman, Collector Model Customs Collectorate Peshawar, said proper examination, assessment and facilitation within the customs bylaws provided by the customs staff of the Peshawar Collectorate have given deKinite results on imports and exports. According to details given by Collector Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Peshawar while talking with Customs Today during an exclusive interview that the collectorate is suffering an understafKing with the Assistant Collectors and Deputy Collectors, however I am discussing the matters, relating to the administration, revenue and anti-smuggling activities, with the high-ups. Answering a query, Gul said the collectorate is following a zero tolerance policy against corruption and smuggling activities. The collectorate is taking strict actions against hardened and notorious smugglers. He opined that it is not important that some department is facing understafKing but the important thing is that resources should be distributed as per results. He further said that, during Kirst two quarters of current Financial Year 2017-18, imports rtemained less than the corresponding Fiscal Year 2016-17 whereas the revenue collection is higher during FY17-18 than previous FY16-17. The Collector MCC Peshawar told the coorespondent that the Collectorate of Peshawar has approved 2,324 extra rebate claims during Kirst Kive months (July to November) FY17-18 against the same period of corresponding FY16-17. The collectorate sanctioned 6,432 cases of rebate

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

claims amounting to Rs170.51million during Rs10.97million whereas it did 1,823 cases of the current Kinancial year against 4,108 sanc- Rs25.52million during the month of August FY16tioned cases of rebate claims of Rs43.11million 17. The Collectorate of Peshawar sanctioned zero during the same period of FY16-17. rebate claims during September and October Telling about the details of disposal of rebate FY16-17. The collectorate approved 1,614 rebate claims during current Fiscal Year 2017-18 re- claims of Rs6.62million during the month of Nospectively, he added that, during the month of vember FY16-17. Answering yet another quesJuly, the MCC Peshawar sanctioned 1,405 cases tion regarding the anti-smuggling performance, of Rs50.14million while in the month of August Gul Rehman remarked that the ASO Peshawar collectorate did 1,919 cases displayed a tremendous performance during Kirst amounting to Rs19.8milKive months of FY17-18. The ASO Peshawar imlion and the MCC Pepounded 305 offending vehicles (vehicles carryshawar approved ing smuggling goods) valued at Rs361.23million 999 rebate claims while the ASO did 82 Non-Duty-Paid (NDP) vehiof Rs14.72million cles priced at during the month Rs155.05million. The of September ASO Peshawar took into FY17-18. During possession various types of the month of Ocsmuggling and smuggled tober of current goods and vehicles Kinancial year, the which value at collectorate sancRs1387.082miltioned 820 cases of relion during Kirst e h t ld bate amounting to Kive months of war to a h e s t e tora cc p c Rs820million while Fiscal Year m e l r l o o t the c t collec the collectorate did 2017-18. a 4 h t 2 t ,3 onden oved 2 1,289 rebate claims p r s p e p r a o e co has rst fiv during the month of hawar ring fi u d s of pes November FY17-18. m -18 lai r) fY17 bate c e e b r Telling about the dem a r e t ex f to nov tails of sanctioned riod o s (July h t n me pe o a m s rebate claim cases e h st t Y16-17 during Kirst Kive again ding f n o p s months of corresponcorre ding FY16-17, he notiKied CT that, during the months of July, the collectorate approved 671 cases of

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EDIToRIAL

Economic cooperation with Russia

ccording to newspaper reports, Pakistan and Russia are all set to sign two agreements worth $10 billion, envisaging the laying down of two pipelines, an oﬀshore gas pipeline and another North-South liquefied natural gas pipeline this week. Local and foreign financial experts believe the agreements would open up new vistas cooperation between the two countries. Reports also suggest that a high-powered Pakistani delegation will visit Russia to find out other fields of economic cooperation apart from signing the gas pipelines agreements. A stateowned company, Inter State Gas Systems, is already engaged in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (Tapi) gas pipeline project to connect South and Central Asia to Pakistan and India. The work on this project in Pakistan will start in March next year. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor and Tapi projects are considered game changers in the region which will not only change the dynamics of economy, but also politics. Another gas project, PakistanIran gas pipeline is in limbo and needs to be activated. Billions of dollars have been spent on this project but is still not reached the operational mode. The experts believe the three gas pipeline projects will not only increase political standing of Pakistan in the comity of the nations, but will also cater to the energy needs of regional countries. Relations between Pakistan and Russia are improving and the new agreements will further push the two countries closure. Russia is looking toward South Asia as an alternative market to sell its gas at reasonable price. The country has huge gas reserves and laying the oﬀshore pipeline through Gwadar Port would be in its own interests. Russia has emerged as one of the biggest gas exporting country in Europe and is catering to needs of the industrial sector in Turkey. However, there is a need to take serious view of the agreements as mere signing documents and throwing the same in cold storage will be mere wastage of time and money. Pakistan is energy starved country and desperately needs new sources of energy to feeds the growing industrial base of the country. Earlier, Pakistan signed a 15-year agreement with Qatar to import LNG and the agreements with Russia will strengthen the depleting energy resources in the country. There is also need to explore oil and gas on the shores of Arabian Sea as geologists predict there are huge reserves of oil and gas in the area as it is the same belt where the gulf countries are situated.

foreign interference in economic aﬀairs T

LAHORE

DR AfTAB AfZAL

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he Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry president has expressed his dismay over the interference of the International Monetary Fund in the country’s economic affairs. There is no denying the fact that the value of the Pakistani rupee has been falling unstopped and this only happened after tense negotiations between the government and the fund ofKicials a few days ago. The government had, earlier, taken halKhearted steps to minimize trade deKicit, and imposed regulatory duty on hundreds of goods to discourage imports. But the move simply failed

to work as the deKicit increased twice the volume of exports, leading to lowering of the foreign exchange reserves which were bolstered by taking loans after loans from international Kinancial institutions. The Kinancial affairs of the country are facing a crisis like situation, forcing the government to take immediate steps to salvage the economy. However, in a state of panic, it has opted to lower the value of the Pakistani rupee which further plunged the country into Kinancial chaos. One fails to understand who the people are working as Kinancial managers and are apparently oblivious of the basics of Kinancial and economic matters. Despite several rejoinders and rejections by the

government to allay the people’s fears that it would not seek another IMF program, the fact remains it would likely go to the agency for a bailout package. According to the LCCI president, the industry is the main victim of the economic crisis and the recent blow of rupee devaluation has added insult to injury. Till the time the policymakers listen to the foreign dictation, economy would continue to suffer losses. The country would only make progress if dependence on foreign loans is minimized. Every country gets loans but for development projects, but the Pakistani policymakers have become habitual of getting loans for even debt serv-

icing and now the burden of foreign liabilities has crossed $85 billion in the tenure of the current Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz government. The fact of the matter is that every successive government has added its share of anomalies to the country’s economy and the situation has gone from bad to worse. Business, trade and industry are the basic components of the economy, but all the three are in disarray. Pakistan’s economy heavily depends on agriculture sector, but it is also going in losses. The government should declare economic emergency in the country and take all the political parties into confidence to reach a solution.

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Iran’s draft budget envisages less revenue via car imports Tuesday December 26, 2017

World

TEHRAN: Iran’s administration has lowered the government’s planned revenues through car imports in the budget bill for the next fiscal year (to start March 20, 2018). The budget bill envisages that the Iranian government’s income via car imports will be 22,200 billion rials (1 US dollar = 35,000 rials) during the next fiscal year via an import tariff of 45 percent averagely. The value is 31.6 percent less compared to the predicted car import duty revenues in current year budget. It seems that the administration has made the decision after the forecasted revenues for the current year didn’t materialize.

china’s customs seize 323,000 Saudi Arabia plans $19b boost for private sector tonnes of smuggled waste RIYADH

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BEIJING

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ustoms in 13 Chinese provincial regions seized 323,000 tonnes of smuggled waste in a move against the import of “foreign garbage.” Some 127 suspects were arrested during the action, the fourth round in the “Blue Sky” campaign against solid waste smuggling, General Administration of Customs spokesperson Huang Songping said Tuesday. However, Huang did not say where the waste, including waste plastic and mineral waste residue, had come from. Huang said the country will continue the crackdown against smuggled waste to block imports of “foreign garbage.” Since the “Blue Sky” campaign started in February, it has led to the opening of 298 criminal cases nationwide, seizure of 866,800

Brussels to launch tax probe into Ikea s set to launch an investigation into Ikea, as the EU widens the net in its four year crackdown on aggressive corporate tax avoidance. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, will announce an oﬃcial probe into the flat pack furniture retailer’s Dutch tax arrangements, which have allegedly helped Ikea avoid nearly €1bn in EU taxes from 2009 to 2014, according to a report published in February 2016 by the Greens in the European Parliament. The dwedish retailer created two separate corporate groups within a web of companies in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, through which the group moved money and profits to take advantage of special tax schemes, the report said. EU competition oﬃcials would need to conduct an investigation to determine if the Dutch deal broke the bloc’s rules before they could estiate any tax savings from the structure. –CB Report

tonnes of smuggled solid waste and the arrest of 421 suspects. Meanwhile, The tax increase applies to refined nickel with harmonized system (HS) code 75021090, that includes most of Chinese nickel full plates imports from Russia, Finland, South African and Brazil. However, the greatest impact will be on shipments from Russia given

that they account for half of the imports under this HS code. The raising of the import tax has boosted nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, although cif China nickel full plate premium prices have shown little reaction to the order. Chinese import taxes on melting grade refined nickel.

pakistan, Russia poised to sign $10b gas pipeline deals this week

akistan and Russia are set to ink agreements this week on laying an offshore gas pipeline and the North-South liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline – the two projects in which Moscow will pour an investment of over $10 billion, indicating a major shift in foreign policy of Islamabad. ISGS is also working on the $10 billion Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (Tapi) gas

pipeline to connect South and Central Asia and construction work on the scheme in Pakistan will start in March next year. These projects are called a game changer for Pakistan as they will not only lead to regional connectivity, but will also meet energy needs of the country. Amid a long-running tussle with Europe and the United States over the annexation of Ukrainian region of Crimea. –CB Report

audi Arabia is to inject SR72 billion ($19.2 billion) into the private sector of the economy in a bid to stimulate activity in the non-oil sector, which has been hit by the slowdown in government spending as a result of oil revenue weakness. Housing and small business are major beneKiciaries of the stimulus package. Among the measures announced in a decree by King Salman are a SR21.2 billion initiative on subsidized loans to provide housing, a SR13.8 billion injection into new building technologies, and a proposal valued at SR10 billion to support the funding of big infrastructure initiatives. Other big items include a SR1.5 billion initiative to support companies in Kinancial distress, and a SR7 billion plan to re-

fund government fees to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A statement from the Center for International Communication (CIC) in Riyadh said the decree was based on recommendations from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also deputy prime minister and president of the powerful Council for Economic and Development Affairs. The growth of the non-oil economy is a crucial part of the Vision 2030 strategy which seeks to reduce the Kingdom’s dependency on oil revenue and government spending. The private sector of the Saudi economy is still largely dependent on spending by government agencies for its economic activity. The government is planning some $200 billion worth of state selloffs in one of the biggest privatization plans in history, in addition to the planned $100 billion initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Saudi Aramco. “The private-sector stimulation packages aim to strengthen competitive capabilities of a number of segments of the national economy.

Bitcoin regulations in India

ast week, income tax department surveyed the major bitcoin exchanges in India. The survey reports said, this was done to collect information about transactions and check whether there was a risk of tax evasion. This week, it was reported that the income tax department is set to issue notices to about 5,00,000 high net worth individuals trading on the exchange across India. This comes at a time when there are still no clear regulations on cryptocurrencies and bitcoin exchanges. Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advises caution on its use,

bitcoin is not illegal in India The RBI has so far issued three notiKications pertaining to bitcoin and other virtual currencies (VC). In all these, starting December 2013, the RBI has cautioned users, holders and traders on the risk of these currencies and clariKied that it has not given any licence or authorisation to any entity or company to operate such schemes or deals . In a December 2013 notiKication, the RBI said, “The creation, trading or usage of VCs including Bitcoins, as a medium for payment are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority. –CB Report

Tehran, Baghdad to remove 10 custom-related barriers

TEHRAN

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ran and Iraq have reached Kinal agreement on elimination of 10 bottlenecks on customs relations between the two countries. The agreement was reached during a joint meeting in the Iraqi capital between Iranian Commer-

cial Attaché in Baghdad Nasser Behzad and Director of the Iraqi Customs Administration. The session touched upon and discussed issues for promoting bilateral trade between the two countries. Iran’s Behzad stated that, during the talks, 10 major axes were examined in detail and agreements were eventually reached on all topics.

He went on to enumerate the agreed-upon issues including appointment of a representative from the Iraqi Customs Administration to hold joint expert meetings with the Iranian counterparts fortnightly, acceptance of Iranian food and dairy products without the need for border tests provided that they present certiKicates of approval of related Iranian bodies and revision of

customs agreement and the decision to use legal clearance ofKicers introduced by the Iraqi Customs Administration and removal of illegal dischargers. “Other issues were clariKication of border terminal systems and establishment of an authorized network of economic activists for customs between the two countries using an electronic mechanism,” the ofKicial highlighted.

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FST settles various complaints filed by FBR employees ISLAMABAD: The Federal Service Tribunal (FST) disposed of cases about ‘increment’ and special allowance filed against the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during second week of December. A division bench of the FST comprising Members Ishtiaq Ahmed and Dr Nazir Saeed heard the case. The bench heard the arguments on the case of ‘implementation’ and ‘increment’ complaints filed by employees Muhammad Boota and cases filed by M Waheed, and others. The same bench disposed of M Waheed service matter.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

customs Torkham earns Rs105.8 million more revenue than yesteryear’s HYDERABAD ASLAm AnJum QuREShI www.customsbulletin.com

he Torkham Customs Station has generated Rs541.84million revenue in 23 days of December during the current Financial Year (FY) 2017-18 against Rs436.8million done in the same period of previous FY 201617, said sources at the Customs House Peshawar. The Torkham Customs Station has collected Rs105.04million more revenue against the revenue done in the same period of previous FY 2016-17. The sources informed the correspondent that the Torkham Customs received Rs224.0million Customs Duty (CD) in 23 days of December during the current FY201718 against Rs189.76million collected during the same period of previous FY 2016-17. The Torkham Customs in this way got Rs34 million more CD in 23 days of December of current FY against the revenue collection of previous FY for the same time period. In the same way, the Torkham Customs Station has got Rs199.77million Sales Tax in 23 days of December during current FY 2017-18 against Rs133.7million generated in 23 days of December of

corresponding FY2016-17. So Torkham Customs has collected Rs66.07million more ST in December against the amount done in 23 days of December during previous FY 2016-17. Collector Customs of the Model Customs Collectorate Pe-

shawar Gull Rahman not only praised the Customs Staff posted at Torkham Customs Station but also encouraged them in a Talk with Customs Today to get smart on Pakistan-Afghanistan border in order to get rid of smuggling. The Collector Customs in an an-

swer to a question about the increase in duties and the strike of importers and transporters said that Prime Minister Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has assured the stakeholders of considering their demands regarding the Regulatory Duties and With Holding

Tax. The Collector Customs lauded the efforts of Deputy Collector Customs Muhammad Najib and Assistant Deputy Collector Customs Miss Sadaf for untiring efforts to deal with the protesting Customs Clearing Agents on Torkham Border.

fBR collects Rs3,362b tax in fY-2016-17: Senate told ISLAMABAD

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inister for Federal Education and Professional Training Baligh-Ur-Rehman apprised the Senate that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs 3,362 billion tax during last Kiscal year 2016-17 while a target of Rs 4,013 billion had been Kixed for the current Kinancial year 2017-18.

Replying to various supplementary questions during Question Hour, he said only Rs1,946 billion tax was collected during Kiscal year 2012-13. He said It was incorrect to say that the FBR had failed to achieve the revenue target during 1st quarter of the current Kiscal year. In fact, the FBR had collected Rs764.9 billion during the 1st quarter 2017-18, registering a growth of 22 per cent as compared to previous year 2016-17, he said. The minister said in order to achieve the revenue target of Rs4,013 billion for the current Kiscal year, the FBR was required to

achieve a growth of 19.15 per cent. Whereas, the FBR’s revenues in the 1st quarter had registered a growth of more than 22 per cent over the collection made in the 1st quarter of the last year, which was above the required growth of 19.15 per cent. He hoped that the FBR would achieve the annual target. To a supplementary question, the minister said Pakistan’s Kinancial discipline was very good and all loans had been paid back to the International Monetary Fund in time. To a separate question, he said Pakistan Revenue Automation

Limited (PRAL), the IT arm of FBR in consultation with Telecommunication companies (Telcos) had developed a utility which required Telcos to upload withholding data Kile on agreed format. The Telcos with the intervention of PTA had agreed to upload data on the new format from August 2017, he said. He said so far two Cellular Companies i.e. M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited and M/s Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) had uploaded their data on the new format. The minister said the data up-

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loaded by the Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited contain certain errors. PRAL was in contact with PTML for removal of said errors, he said. He said the remaining two companies i.e. M/s Telenor Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and M/s CM Pak had yet to upload their data and were being pursued to complete the task at an early date. To a question, Baligh Ur Rehman said the exchange companies, beside Banks carried out legal money transactions. The operations of these exchange companies were regulated and supervised by the State Bank of Pakistan under Foreign.