Saturday, 18 November 2017

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PAKISTAN’S FIRST INDEPTH NEWSPAPER ON CUSTOMS

Daily

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Karachi, Sat November 18, 2017

ISLAMABAD

M FAIZAN

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pecial Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan has said that FBR gets significantly more tax filers from corresponding period of last Fiscal Year.

He said that FBR making concerted efforts for the broadening of tax base and the focus has shifted from burdening the existing taxpayers to

Jinding new taxpayers.”All our energies are now concentrated on Jinding new taxpayers through an extensive taxpayer outreach programme which has helped us get a signiJicant number of additional taxpayers till now as compared to the corresponding period last year,” he said while addressing the ofJice bearers and members of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry during his visit to the Chamber here. Chairman FBR Tariq Mahmood Pasha and other Members of FBR were also ac-

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companied him. The meet was also attended by the ofJice-bearers and members of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Haroon Akhtar Khan said the government deeply valued the taxpayers and the contribution they had made to the revenue generation and resource mobilization efforts of FBR in recent years. “It is through the support and cooperation of our valued taxpayers that FBR has been able to register 73 per cent revenue growth during the last four years,” he said.

‘FBR taking effective measures for broadening of tax base’

Customs Preventive confiscates 229 sacks of Iran made smuggling jerseys

Multan Customs facing delay in cases of Rs.1352.764m in SC,LHC,Adjudication

US Customs & Border Protection discovers 14 Blockchain use cases

ASO seizes huge quantity of goods in second week of November

Assistant to PM on Revenue Haroon has said that FBR gets significantly | SEE PAGE 01 |

ASO, Customs has taken into possession foreign origin NDP 84 sacks | SEE PAGE 02 |

MCCisfacinghugerevenuecollectionloss duetopendingcasesstuckupinthevarious | SEE PAGE 05 |

An advisory committee to the US CBP is lookingintotheapplicabilityoftheblockchain | SEE PAGE 07 |

ASO carried out various operations against smugglers and confiscated | SEE PAGE 08 |

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Govt asked to impose taxes on the rich Saturday, November 18, 2017

National

LAHORE: Hundreds of electricity revenue workers took out large procession under the aegis of All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union CBA in support of their demands.

The participants raised slogans and demand imposition of taxes upon the feudal lords, capitalists and major traders and urge the government to bring back $200 billion deposited in the foreign banks as were announced by the federal finance minister two years ago.

Customs Preventive confiscates 229 sacks of Iran made smuggling jerseys

ISLAMABAD

HYDERABAD

CUSTOMS BULLETIN REPORT

ASLAM ANJUM QURESHI

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akistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) is anticipating at least 200,000 new taxpayers who would file their income tax returns this year. In a letter to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the PTBA appreciated that out of 675,000 income tax returns around 94,000 were new registered individuals; adding that last year (2016) approximately 1,300,000 tax returns were filed and it was being anticipated that at least 200,000 new taxpayers would file their returns, taking the number of IT returns to 1,500,000. Keeping the said in view, the department is yet to receive 825,000 tax returns; 90 percent of which will be filed through online web portal. It said that besides filing of income tax return, the last date for filing online (i) monthly sales return and (ii) monthly withholding statement for October also fell on November 15, 2017. Moreover, PTBA said that the income tax return and Wealth Statement Form for above tax year were finalized and uploaded on Web-Portal “IRIS System” through Final SRO981(l)/2014 dated September 28, 2017.

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he Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO), Customs Preventive Sukkur, has taken into possession foreign origin nonduty-paid 84 sacks of Iran made jerseys with sillies and 145 sacks of jerseys without sillies priced at Rs610000 involving duties and taxes of Rs318725 during an action on a customs check-post Jacobabad of Sukkur Division during October 2017-18. Hyderabad Customs Collector Akhlaq Ahmad Khattaq received a tip-off about the smuggling of foreign origin items. He immediately formed a raiding party under the supervision of Additional Collector Amir Nawaz Hamid.

The team raided the area of railway station Shikarpur, Sukkur Division, and recovered the abovementioned items. The ofJicials asked the driver to show the documents regarding the legal import and lawful possession of the recovered articles, but he could not produce the same.

So the ofJicials conJiscated the items under the customs bylaws besides impounding the vehicle being used for smuggling. The seized items have been deposited into Sukkur Warehouse while a case has been submitted to the Customs Adjudication for further proceedings.

The customs will present the said items for auction provided the case

‘FBR may receive 0.2 million new tax returns this year’

is decided in favor of the department. The ASO team, consisting of Deputy Collector Basit Hussain some Inspectors and other staff, participated in the action carried out against the smuggling.

OfJicials said that efforts are being expedited to arrest the smuggling in the region. The surveillance has also been enhanced on roads to keep an eye on the smuggling of non-duty-paid goods and vehicles.

Meanwhile, The Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO), Sukkur Division, has seized foreign origin non-dutypaid contraband items including 871 yards of cloth, 200 packs of cigarettes, Pine Light brand, and 220 boxes of Lover Lipstick valued at Rs530520 involving duties and taxes of Rs365765 during an action at a check-post of Jacobabad-Sukkur area during October 2017-18. Collector Model Customs Collectorate (MCC)

Hyderabad Akhlaq Ahmed Khattaq directed his staff to abort the smuggling attempts in the region. The customs authorities received a tip-off regarding the smuggling of said foreign origin non-duty-paid items. He formed a team, comprising ASO Customs Preventive Sukkur In-Charge Customs Check-Post Jacobabad Aziz Katpar and other Inspectors, Sepoys and a Driver, which participated in conducting the operation.

Bosan invites Belarusian investors for JVs in agri sector M

ISLAMABAD

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inister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan called upon the Belarusian investors for establishing joint agriculture machinery manufacturing company in order to exploit the true potential of investment of agriculture sector of Pakistan.

Addressing the 4th meeting of

Pakistan-Belarus joint working group for cooperation in agriculture, he said that the joint ventures in agriculture sector would be beneJicial for both Pakistan and Belarus as it will create job opportunities for the local skilled and semi-skilled labour force besides providing the better returns for the investors of the Belarus. The event was organised by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research in collaboration with Pakistan Agriculture Research Council PARC). During the

meeting, ‘one nation exhibition’ was also organised in order to highlight the trade and investment opportunities existing in the agriculture sector of the both countries as well as to Jind out the areas of mutual interest for enhancing the cooperation between both the countries.

The minister expressed the government’s resolve for providing enabling environment for the foreign investors for establishing the joint ventures in agriculture sector of the country. He informed that local agri-

culture-sector comprises about 20 percent of national GDP, besides about 60 percent of the population was directly or indirectly connected with agriculture sector and it was a major source of raw material for local industry. Bosan said that Pakistan was food secure country and it was producing surplus crops of wheat maize, mangoes and citrus fulJilling the food requirement of population of around 220 million, adding that agriculture sector of the country was rapidly transforming into modern and

mechanised farming. He said that this period of transformation was giving an opportunities to the investors of Belarus to get maximum beneJit by initiating joint ventures with the local investors, which will be a win-win situation for both the countries. He also invited the Belarus to explore the investment opportunities existing in areas of poultry production, halal meat, milk and dairy production and initiating the joint investments in meat and poultry processing and agriculture equipments.

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MULTAN

IMRAN ALI

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he Model of Customs Collectorate is facing huge revenue collection loss due to pending cases stuck up in the various courts, including Supreme Court, Lahore High Court (LHC), Appellate Tribunal, Special Judge, Collector Appeal and Adjudication.

Multan Customs is being seriously concerned with continuing inordinate and unwanted delays in their legal cases because huge amount of revenue involved jammed in these cases.

Sources told Customs Today that about 215 various cases involving revenue amount of worth Rs1352.764 million of Multan Customs Collectorate is facing pendency in the various courts for their trial. These pending cases of Multan Customs Collectorate involved high and low profiles seizures, and contraventions formed after detection of mis-declaration at the time of import clearances and tax evasion found during audit. huge amount of Multan Customs revenue collection is blocked due to these undecided cases. Law Branch of Multan Customs is making efforts for the early disposal of these cases but long-lasting complicated legal proce-

Saturday, November 18, 2017

dure causing delay. pending in the appellate tribunal for These undecided seizure and tax eva- their final verdict. As many as 108 varsion cases of Multan Customs are still ious seizure cases of worth Rs183.526 under progress due to slow proceed- million are waiting for their legal trial in ings and unnecessary delay of cases at the Customs Adjudication .Majority of different forums. Slow progress in these pending cases are still under pending legal cases has also badly af- process due to legal hindrance and unfected the revenue collection process of necessary delay from respondents and Multan Customs Collectorate to great few other factors are also involved in extent and huge amount of revenue col- their delay for the settlement of these lection is blocked due to their court pro- cases. One of the major reasons behind ceedings. Multan Customs has althese pending cases is shortage of court most five various cases of staff to precede these cases because worth millions pending in Judges and Adjudicating Officers are inthe Supreme Court of sufficient to precede these huge Pakistan for their finumbers of cases. nal decision from several months.

Huge revenue collections involved in the pending cases of Lahore High Court are still under adjudication. There are almost 51 various cases of around rious Rs840.574 million unt 51 va s o m l decided in the Lahore a re a 0.574 Th e re d Rs84 High Court Multan n u o r of a in the Bench for their final c ases ecided d n u decision. n tan millio r t Mul u o About 66 various leC h e Hig nal gal cases of Multan L ahor heir fi t r o f Customs of worth Bench on Rs.328.664 million are decisi

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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

Real state of economy

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In a report, the World Bank has depicted bleak picture of the economy of Pakistan, putting the gross external financing requirements of the country at 9 percent of the gross domestic product or $31 billion for the current fiscal year. However, the Ministry of Finance has rejected the report, saying the country’s gross external financing needs are $18 billion during the year, at least 41 percent less than what the bank claimed in the report. There is no doubt the state of economy is not promising, partly due to political instability and partly due to inconsistent economic policies. If the implementation machinery is outdated, the laws have also been disfigured over the years and are obsolete. The international financial institutions and several think tanks of the country have stressed the need for structural reforms in every sector of the economy. But situation went from bad to worse. The imposition of 0.6 percent withholding tax, introduced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, not only decreased the collection of tax revenues, but also destroyed the burgeoning construction and real estate sectors. Unrealistic business conditions and tough government restrictions also caused capital flight from the country. The business community sees Dubai, United Kingdom and the United States as more attractive investment destinations than Pakistan.

In its rejoinder to the World Bank, the government claims the gross financing requirements have been worked in line with portfolio investment of 4 percent of the GDP and that is equal to $13.8 billion.

As a matter of fact, whether the country’s gross financing need is about $18 billion for 2017-18 as the government claims or is $31 billion as mentioned by the World Bank in its report, the business and trade activities are subdued in the country.

Pakistan’s total portfolio investment remained $6.6 billion rather than $13.8 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. However, the time will prove which of the two was wrong. But everything is not all right in the country.

The ministry can reject the update released by the World Bank, but cannot deny the ground realities.

Trade with partner countries I

LAHORE

DR AFTAB AFZAL

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t is not the Jirst time that trade delegations from various countries are visiting Pakistan and seeking to enhance business to business cooperation with their local counterparts. However, a signiJicant improvement in the trade activities could not be achieved in any form other than that the visiting delegations leave the country with tall claims that they would avail the opportunities offered by Pakistan. Currently, various foreign delegates are in the country from Poland, Germany and Turkey to China, Hong Kong, Tunisia and Indonesia and are expressing serious desire to under-

take joint ventures and exploring investment opportunities in Pakistan, but the time will tell the exact situation. So far, free trade agreements, which are signed with various countries, could not leave positive impression on the country’s economy. Rather, balance of trade is in favour of other countries to which such agreements are signed. It shows the fact how incapable are our policymakers and negotiators who almost always bring failures to their credits. Another signiJicant failure is inability of the ofJicials to convince the partner countries about burgeoning economic activities in Pakistan and liberal investment policies offered to foreign investors. The government

could not even cover the shortage of electricity and improve law and order in industrial cities of the country, including Karachi.

So far, only China has emerged as the principal investor in Pakistan and all other friendly countries like the United States and Germany and ‘brotherly’ countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have done nothing but lip-service or made limited investment far less than their potential. The government also has failed to arrange business to business contacts with friendly and brotherly countries and could not sell the vast opportunities it offers to foreign investors in the country. No doubt there are huge investment opportunities for for-

eign businesspersons, investors and industrialists but there are other dozens of things to do to create friendly business climate in the country. Pakistan’s tax system is complex and cumbersome and this point has been raised on several occasions by international Jinancial institutions, but despite all reforms and policies, the system could not be improved to the desired level. There is also lack of coordination between the business community and the ofJicial machinery within the country and there is urgent need to Jill this gap. The foreign delegations are in the country and are consuming hundreds of man-hours and this exercise should not go waste at the end of the day.

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France’s monthly trade deficit widens Saturday November 18, 2017

World

PARIS: French trade deficit in September widened to 4.7 billion euros (5.44 billion U.S. dollars), from the 4.2 billion euros reported in August due to slowing sales abroad, official figures showed.

“Exports are still growing slightly…, on the other hand, imports recover sharply so that the deficit… widens again in September,” the customs said in a .

Over the period, exports inched up by 0.3 percent to generate 40.3 billion euros, while imports grew by 1.3 percent to 45 billion euros from August data.

The gap of manufactured products widened by 2.2 percent to 4.22 billion euros, according to the report.

US Customs & Border Protection UAE to tax water and discovers 14 Blockchain use cases electricity at 5% DUBAI

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NEW YORK

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n advisory committee to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is looking into the applicability of the blockchain and how it can be used within the agency.

According to a published report, the working group was established by the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) in September. It was initially set up by the COAC and the Customs and Border Protection to determine issues relating to new technologies or the advancement of existing technologies, which will have an impact on trade. The report suggests that the working group will be looking into the applicability of the blockchain on trade processing. An educational day provided by the Department of Homeland Security

Credit Suisse net profit soars in Q3 redit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest lender, said that its net profit soared in the third quarter as it makes progress with an ambitious restructuring and cost-cutting programme. Credit Suisse said in a statement that its bottom-line net profit amounted to 244 million Swiss francs (209 million euros, $244 million) in the period from July to September, up from 41 million Swiss francs a year earlier. Revenues, however, fell by eight percent to 4.972 billion Swiss francs, the bank said. Credit Suisse has embarked on a massive restructuring programme since Tidjane Thiam took over as chief executive in 2015. And the group said it has made headway with its programme to bring down operational expenditure to below 18.5 billion Swiss francs by the end of the year. In the July-September period, the bank made additional cost cuts of 400 million Swiss francs, it calculated. –CB Report

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(DHS) on the distributed ledger and how it’s being used has already taken place. As has an identiJication day on the practical use cases that can be explored further.

Meanwhile, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced today that construction

for prototypes of the Border Wall has concluded in San Diego. The prototype construction phase is complete. CBP will now test and evaluate the finished products, provided by industry, to determine which wall design elements meets our needs.

British ambulance driver, 53, held in Turkish jail for smuggling

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British father-of-Jive has recalled 45 days of horror he suffered after being detained in Turkey over some ancient coins his children found while on holiday.

Toby Robyns, 53, an ambulance driver from West Sussex, has told how he was locked up alongside MaJiosos and ISIS terrorists at the notorious Mugla prison.

At one point he was forced into a ‘fight to the death’ against a 17st

inmate dubbed The Executioner, he says. Mr Robyns was released in October after Turkish authorities decided to give him a suspended sentence. Now safely back in Shoreham with his wife Heidi and their children Baxter, eight, and 10-year-old Brody, Mr Robyns told of his ordeal. He says he feared for his life among lags who spent their time screaming and crying late into the night. –CB Report

oth water and electricity will be taxed at 5 per cent from January 1, 2018, according to a set of draft executive regulations published on the Federal Tax Authority’s website.According to the document, water and electricity will be treated as supplied goods, and therefore subject to a 5 per cent value-added tax (VAT). This category of taxable goods are deJined in the regulations as the “supply of water and all forms of energy including electricity and gas … whether used for lighting, or heating, or cooling, or air-conditioning or any other purposes”.

“From the beginning, it has been clear that when we talk about power and water, there’s no speciJic exemption or zero rating,” said Julie Bronzi, a senior VAT manager at

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PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

“It’s not out of the blue,” she added. According to Bronzi, until recently many people were still wondering if public entities like Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (Dewa) would be subject to VAT. “I think it’s clear for now that there’s no exemption, which is not surprising as it’s the same in Europe, where electricity and water are subject to VAT,” Bronzi said. The expert was quick to stress that since Wednesday’s draft executive regulations had been retracted, they should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, Revelations that AIB was involved in assisting clients in avoiding tax through offshore tax havens have been described as “deeply disturbing”.

Opposition parties demanded last night that both AIB and Bank of Ireland immediately outline all tax avoidance strategies they have arranged for clients as the fallout from the “Paradise Papers” leak intensified.

Remittance inflow rises 35% emittance inflow to the country in October has increased by 35% to $1.16 billion compared to September, according to the latest data released by Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday. In September expatriate Bangladeshis had sent home $857 million, the lowest in the last five-and-a-half years. The remittance this October is also 14.5% higher than that of October last year, which was $1.01 billion. The October figure drives up the total remittance inflow of the current fiscal year to $4.6 billion, which is 7% higher than $4.2 billion during the same period of

the previous fiscal year. “Although, there had been a falling trend in remittance since fiscal year 2014-15, the situation changed from the beginning of fiscal year 2017-18, followed by the central bank’s measures to encourage Non-Resident Bangladeshis to send their money home using legal channels,” a Bangladesh Bank official told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to the central bank data, remittance worth $284.44 million came through six state-owned banks while $851.11 million came through private commercial banks in October. –CB Report

Singapore market may test support at 3,400 points

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SINGAPORE

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he Singapore stock market on Friday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 40 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,420point plateau and it may open under

pressure again on Monday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is Jlat to lower thanks to a fall in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday, and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The STI Jinished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the Jinancials, industrials and plantations. Among the actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding

surged 4.79 percent, while Genting Singapore soared 1.52 percent, Golden Agri-Resources skidded 1.23 percent, DBS Group tumbled 1.19 percent, Hutchison Port Holdings dropped 1.18 percent, Keppel Corp shed 0.92 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.90 percent, OverseaChinese Banking Corporation fell 0.76 percent, SembCorp Industries dipped 0.62 percent, SingTel added

0.53 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 0.52 percent and CapitaLand Mall Trust and Global Logistic Properties were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation as stocks spent most of Friday’s trade in the red before eventually ending mixed. The Dow shed 39.73 points or 0.17 percent to 23,422.21, while the NASDAQ added 0.89 points.

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Peshawar Dr Port earns Rs192 million of profit PESHAWAR: The Dry Port Peshawar has collected an amount of Rs701.37million during the whole month of October of current FY201718 against Rs507.89million done in October of previous FY2016-17. So the dry port stays with profit of Rs192million.

The sources said that Rs296.45million had been generated as Customs Duty during October of current FY2017-18 for which the work of Deputy Collector Customs at Peshawar Dry Port praised by Gul Rahman, Collector Customs at MCC Peshawar, during a talk with Customs Today.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

ASO seizes huge quantity of goods in second week of November FAISALABAD NAEEM SHEIKH

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he Anti Smuggling Organization (ASO) carried out various operations against smugglers and confiscated goods worth Rs73,25000 during the second week of November 2017.

Assistant Collector Shah Samad Hamadani and his team, comprising Superintendent Tanveer Raza Naqvi, Inspectors Muhammad Munir, Faizi Raza and Sepoys Liaquat Ali, Israr Ahmad and Muhammad Abdullah, confiscated goods and a vehicle under the Customs Act 1969.

The ASO also impounded non duty paid five vehicles under Section 16 worth Rs48,00,000, One vehicle was impounded under section 157 of the customs act 1969 worth Rs5,00,000 which was being used for smuggling and transportation. The ASO team also confiscated smuggled items 1260 kilogram worth Rs42,5000.

All the items were brought into the country without payment of customs duty and taxes.

The Faisalabad ASO seized these items on the violation of Import

and Export Control Act-1950 punishable under Section

156(1) 89(i) and 90 of the Customs Act-1969 and forwarded

the cases to Customs Adjudication for further legal action.

Public-private dialogue must to strengthen economy LAHORE

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inistry of Commerce forthcoming Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2018-2023 will be formulated while incorporating the insight obtained from constructive and broadbased engagement between public and private sectors with a view to address Pakistan’s gradual decline

in export competitiveness over the past 20 years. Noman Aslam, Director General of Trade Policy at the ministry, expressed these views at a roundtable conference ‘Achieving Export Competitiveness in Pakistan’ organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Charting the development of Pakistan’s trade policy over the last decade, he highlighted Pakistan’s movement towards a more forward-looking and longer-term approach since 2009, when the MoC drafted its Jirst three-year STPF. In this regard, he mentioned

the Ministry’s forthcoming trade policy framework would be valid for Jive years (2018-23).

About decline in Pakistan’s exports over the last two decades, Gonzalo J Varela, Senior Economist at the World Bank Group (WBG), presented the detail of country’s challenges in penetrating more diverse export markets and leveraging global value chains as a vehicle of sustained economic growth. He explained how Pakistan’s overall share of the global export market had declined in comparison to peer economies such as India and Bangladesh,

even though the country’s exports had increased in absolute terms.

To reverse this decline, he recommended more market and product diversification and measures to improve quality and sophistication of Pakistan’s export basket.

While, WBG’s Senior Economist Nadia Rocha recommended introducing modern trade facilitation measures and a flexible exchange rate mechanism in the country. She alsorecommended steps to reduce cost of doing business, besides creating a more favorable climate for foreign direct investment. In this

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regard, she stressed the need for greater trade liberalization efforts, which could boost productivity and export competitiveness in Pakistan.

Earlier, SDPI Deputy Executive Director Dr Vaqar Ahmed highlighted key issues identified by business community in the context of nation-wide consultations held by the organisation. He explained how, despite recent investments in the energy sector, the cost of energy was still higher than in regional economies, reducing the competitiveness of local industries.