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Karachi, Mon May 29, 2017

PESHAWAR

NADIR KHAN

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howing shortfall in major collection, the Customs House in last 11 months of Sinancial year 2106-17 collected Rs14921 million till 25th May 2017 against previous 11 months of Rs16708.79 million with difference of minus 10.70 percent.

Reliable sources in Customs House told Customs Today that in head of custom duty a total of Rs5598.48 million were collected up to May 2017 against the previous year collection of Rs6005.71 million of 2016 with total of difference of minus Rs407.23 million having difference in percentage of 0f minus 4.03 percent. In head of sale tax on imports the house collected Rs3610.34 million up to May 2017 against the

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previous collection of Rs3973.31 million with total difference of minus Rs362.97 million.

The difference in percentage was recorded minus 9.15 percent.

In head of sale tax levied as federal excise duty (FED) on palm oil the house collected Rs1463.14 million up to May 2017 against Rs1876.28 million of May 2016 with difference of minus Rs413.14 million having minus 22.02 percent in percentage.

Peshawar Customs collects Rs14921m taxes till 25th May

Rs320b allocated for communications sector: Ishaq Dar

FBR’s role in increasing revenue collection appreciated

Package containing live ants detained by customs

‘No govt could increase revenue collection by80%in first 4 years of tenure’

Showing shortfall in major collection, the Customs House in last 11 months | SEE PAGE 01 |

Dar said that the govt was attaching top priority to development of motorway | SEE PAGE 02 |

The Economic Survey of Pakistan for the outgoing fiscal year 2016-17 | SEE PAGE 04 |

Customs officers recently intercepted a shipment of live ants sent to China | SEE PAGE 07 |

Secretary for Finance Rana Afzal claimed that no govt in the history of Pakistan | SEE PAGE 08 |

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5,201MW power projects to be completed by 2021 KARACHI: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2016/2017 issued on Thursday said that as per Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) six power generation projects based on indigenous coal with cumulative capacity of 4,290 MW and seven power projects based on imported coal with cumulative capacity of 5,201 MW are presently under process at various stages to be completed between 2017 – 2021.

Various initiatives have also been started to ensure the sustainability of the reforms envisaged under the Power Policy of 2013 ranging from regulatory reforms to market development have been introduced.

Monday May 29, 2017

Business

Rs320b allocated for communications sector: Dar ISLAMABAD

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inister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the government was attaching top priority to development of motorway and highways network and has allocated Rs 320 billion for this sector in the coming Siscal year’s budget while in the outgoing Siscal year Rs 188 billion were earmarked for the communication sector.

Delivering his budget 2017-18 speech in the National Assembly, he said that by 2013-14,only Rs 51 billion were allocated for this sector.

He said that Pakistan due to its

Zero rated ST policy for export sector hailed LAHORE

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strategic location,enjoyed the unique capacity to provide a link to the countries of the region. He said for taking advantage of this gifted position the government has been investing in this

Cell to be set up in Sindh to improve climate for investment

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PA Ch. Muhammad Ikram warmly welcomed the zero rated sales tax policy for country’s five export sectors. Commenting on the 2017-18 budget, he said zero rated sales tax policy would help boom the export sectors. He said the government had won the hearts of exporters by announcing the zero rated policy.

MPA, Rana Liaqat said the PML-N government had announced various incentives for farmers for the uplift of growers and agriculture.

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sector. Giving details of some major communications sectors projects,he said that for 230 km Lahore-Abdul Hakim section of the Motorway Rs 48 billion have been allocated in the com-

ing budget while for Multan-Sukker Motorway Rs 35 billion have been earmarked. Dar said that for SukkurHyderabad Motorway Rs 2.5 billion have been set aside which is being built on BOT basis while Karachi-Hyderabad motorway, also a BOT basis has been partially opened for trafSic. The Sinance minister said that Rs 38 billion have been earmarked for Hakla-D I Khan Motorway whereas for Faisalabd-Khanewal Motorway Rs 10 billion have been allocated.

For Burhan-Havelian Expressway Rs 3 billion and for ThakotHavelian section Rs 26 billion have been allocated. He said that for D I Khan- Mughalkot-Zhob Highway Rs 2.7 billion have been earmarked while for Hoshab-Surab highway and Gwadar-Hoshab section Rs 2.5 billion have been allocated.

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KARACHI

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he Chief Minister Sindh has approved the setting up of dedicated and specialized unit for improving investment climate and ease of doing business in the province.The Sindh Investment Climate Improvement Cell (SICIC) will be established within the Sindh Board of Investment (SBI), said an ofSicial statement.

The cell will review and improve all necessary procedures for setting

up a business, obtaining permits, registering property and all other related matters for investors in Sindh.

The government of Sindh through the establishment of this cell demonstrates its commitment to making all procedures related to investment and setting up a business in Sindh easier, faster and cheaper. The government of Sindh will hire private sector management and technical experts to work with government functionaries to improve efSiciency and facilitate all businesses effectively in the province.The essential role of the cell will be to construct a modern

and fully automated one window facility for all businesses and investors in the province. This facility will connect all relevant departments engaged in the setting up of all operations of business including, SESSI, Excise & Taxation, SBCA, Industry, Law and others. The cell will coordinate with the development, implementation, and monitoring of legislative, regulatory, procedural and institutional reforms. The government of Sindh is committed to creating an enabling business environment consistent with good international practice.

PR set Rs 53b target of income for year 2107-18 LAHORE

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akistan Railways (PR) has set Rs 53 billion as a target of income for the financial year of 2017-18 which is 32 percent higher than the target set in current fiscal year. According to PR sources on Thursday, Railways has finalised its working paper on performance and income for the next financial year. Railways is expecting 32 percent record increase in income in the upcoming financial year as compared to the current year while the target of income set in the upcoming budget would be 94 percent more then the target set in 2013 by the Railways. PR would break its record of income and performance under the leadership of Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique in the upcoming years, the sources said. Meanwhile,the minister said that the PR showed better performance in the set targets and earned more income than the set targets,adding the income would be far more than Rs 53 billion. The Railways earned Rs 36 billion against the set target of Rs 32 billion the previous year,while Rs 40 billion were earned when the target was Rs 36 billion.

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Cigarette prices likely to remain same in budget 2017-18 KARACHI

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n this budget, tobacco prices will not be increased. The proposal has been included in the Budget 2017-18. Federal government may face a strong resentment from doctors and other communities.

The reduction in tax on tobacco in the coming budget can reduce the revenue. It is pertinent to mention

here that Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue, has pleaded that high tax on cigarette leads to more smuggling which in turn costs billions to the exchequer.

If government is concerned at increasing revenue then it should instead pay attention to bring the big Sish in the tax-net and do the looted money by politicians and establishment back to the country’s banks.

According to FBR sources, it is also

expected that government will focus on decreasing the prices of basic commodities like bread, fruit, milk, petrol, electricity and other necessities. It is important to mention here that Pakistan has one of the largest populations of tobacco users in the world, with over 22 million adults smoking cigarettes, Huqqa or Biri and millions more using smokeless tobacco products including Gutka, Naswar, and Paan.

One third (32.4%) of men and

5.7% of women smoke tobacco.

Over 100,000 deaths are attributed to tobacco use each year from lung and oral cancers, strokes, heart and respiratory diseases. It is expected to increase the number of smokers, thereby increasing the disease and death burden caused by tobacco.

Research has shown that increase in tobacco prices leads to a decrease in number of smokers in a given community, one of the most effective of many strategies to curb

tobacco use. Here, our government is going to do exactly the opposite: make it easier to buy cigarette. It may not matter for the richer strata of the society but for the poor and lower middle class, even a small price rise matters a lot. It is this group unfortunately that is furthermost away from any sort of health education, healthcare and economic benefits when it comes to illness that inevitably stems from tobacco use.

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ISLAMABAD

M ARSHAD

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he Economic Survey of Pakistan for the outgoing fiscal year 2016-17 has acknowledged the remarkable role of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in increase the revenue collection.

The survey paid hats off salute to the FBR by reporting that significant rise in total tax collection during FY2016 is largely attributed to improved collection under Gas Development Surcharge (GDS), Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) and Petroleum Levy.

The collection under these heads scaled up on account of higher sales of oil and gas products. Of total tax revenue, the FBR tax collection as percentage witnessed a remarkable improvement and stood at 10.7% of the GDP in FY2016-17.

The improvement in the FBR tax to GDP ratio has been on account of

considerable reduction in tax concessions and exemptions, increased withholding taxes on non-filers and improvements in tax compliance and enforcement.

The survey further highlighted that like many other developing countries, Pakistan’s tax structure is heavily reliant on indirect taxes.

Nevertheless, in recent years, Pakistan’s tax structure has seen a great transition from indirect to direct tax system as a result of various tax reforms. In FY2006, indirect taxes constituted 68 percent of total FBR tax collection, while the direct taxes accounted for only 32 percent The proportion of direct taxes in total FBR taxes has increased steadily to 39.1 percent in FY2016, whereas the share of indirect taxes has reduced to 61.0 percent during

FY2016. During the current fiscal year, the share of direct taxes is expected to increase further to 43 percent on account of various tax measures initiated by the government. The share of sales tax in total FBR tax collection has increased to 41.9 percent in FY2016 from 41.3 percent in FY2006. However, the share is likely to reduce to 39.7 percent during the current fiscal year. On the other hand, the proportion of sales tax in total indirect tax has

count on ac p u d e n sc al gas il and llec tio o o c f o e he Th es nue, t er sal e h v g i e r h x of tal ta ntage . Of to s t p e rc e c s u a n o p ro d lec ti able ax col mark e r FBR t a % of ssed t 10.7 a d witne o o t and s -17 ment e v o r Y2016 F n imp i DP the G

increased from 60.3 percent in FY2006 to 68.7 percent in FY2016.

Sales tax as percentage of indirect tax is targeted to reach at 69.7 percent during FY2017.

In contrast, customs duty as percentage of indirect tax has reduced from 28.3 percent in FY2006 to 21.3 percent in FY2016, while its share is expected to reduce further to 20 percent during FY2017.

Similarly, excise duty as percentage of indirect tax has reduced to 9.9 percent during FY2016 from 11.3 percent recorded in FY2006 due to the shrinking base over the years.

During FY2017, its share in indirect tax is expected to remain at10.3 percent.

Therefore tax revenues are the most efficient and effective way to boost country’s domestic resource mobilization efforts through which the state raises its income to meet compulsory public expenditures.

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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

Federal budget for 2017-18

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inance Minister Ishaq Dar has presented the federal budget for fiscal year 2017-18 with total outlay of Rs4.75 trillion which is 4.3 percent higher than the last year’s budget.The availability of the financial resources during the fiscal year has been estimated at Rs 4.6 trillion and the net revenue receipts have been estimated at Rs 2.9 trillion.The Federal Board of Revenue has been tasked to collect Rs4.01 trillion tax revenue for the year.At least at Rs 2.3 trillion are estimated to come from the provinces under the head of federal taxes and the net capital receipts are assessed at Rs552.5 billion.There will be slight increase in the total expenditures for the year and a major chunk of the budget will go to the education, defence, science and technology as well as power and nuclear energy projects.The development expenditures for the year are set at Rs1.001 trillion, which are 40 percent higher than the last year when Rs715billion were earmarked under this head.The defence allocations have been set at Rs920.2 billion. A huge amount of Rs 180 billion has been earmarked for the China Pakistan Economic corridor out of which 160 billion will be spent on the construction of roads and bridges. The government has already spent Rs 231 billion on the game changer project during the last three years. At least Rs1 trillion are earmarked for agricultural loans for the year. The finance minister claims the budget covers all the aspects of the economy which is rising at a rate of over five percent and has crossed $300 billion mark.According to the budget estimates, the government is expected to receive Rs 837.8 billion from external resources and total availability of the resources is estimated at Rs 4,681.2 billion. At least Rs 2.1 trillion have been earmarked for the Public Sector Development Programme, including federal and provincial allocations, showing an increase of 26 percent as compared to the budget estimates of the previous year and 37.3 percent to the revised estimates of the same period. At least Rs 40 billion are earmarked for special federal development programmes, Rs 12.5 billion for energy, Rs12.5 billion for potable water supply, Rs 7.5 billion for earthquake victims, Rs 45 billion for IDPs and Rs 45 billion for security enhancement in the country. At least Rs 50 billion will be spent on various educational programmes during the year.The annual presentation of the federal budget has become a routine affair in the country, but it is hoped the current government will fulfill its promises and will implement the budget in letter and spirit.

Misuse of petro-money A

LAHORE

DR AFTAB AFZAL

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ccording to newspaper reports, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was given cold reception by the royal family in Saudi Arabia in utter disregard to the traditional Arab hospitality and norms of international diplomacy. No matter how ordinary Saudis see and behave with South Asian workers and hurl slurs of ‘rafique’ and ‘maskeen’ on them, the uncalled for behavior with the prime minister of Pakistan cannot be justified from any angle and it belies norms of decency and civility.

Pakistanis have special regard

for the holy land and its people, but the way the ruling family is behaving or misbehaving with Pakistani officials will pay them back in the same manner in the times to come.

The proposed alliance of the Islamic countries, pushed ahead by Saudi Arabia, is apparently against terrorism, but in fact it is an anti-Iran alliance. The royal family of Hejaz and Najad has already stashed petro-money in US and European banks and the latest move to buy billions of dollars arms is to persuade US President Trump to perpetuate their tyrant rule in that country. One fails to understand what Mr Sharif was doing in that country in the first place

where he was an unwanted guest. It is unfortunate that the Saudi and UAE monarchs love to stash their money in US and Swiss banks, but come to Pakistan to prey on the threatened species every year. One fails to understand why the rulers of this country have no respect in themselves and for this nation and why they present Pakistan as a beggar state at every international forum. Saudis have signed deals worth $350 billion with the United States, but never bother to invest anything in Pakistan. On another note, Pakistanis are the leading visitors of the holy land and spend nearly $1 billion annually on Haj and Umra tours.

The time has come the

rulers of the country should assert their authority as part of a respectable nation and forget to respect the royal family which does not know the norms of hospitality. Pakistan is rising economic power and Saudi Royal family is sitting on a sinking ship. We should not be part of any alliance against our immediate neighbor Iran.

It should also be noted that Iran was the first country of the world which had recognized Pakistan in the United Nations. The general criteria is that respect the one who respects you. Pakistan doesn’t need any help from Saudi Arabia and let the royal family face the consequences of its wrongdoings.

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Iraq, Saudi Arabia agree on 9-month extension of OPEC cut Monday May 29, 2017

World

BAGHDAD: OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iraq agreed on Monday on the need to extend a global cut in oil supply by nine months in an effort to prop up crude prices, removing a potential stumbling block as producing countries prepare to meet this week. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said he did not expect any opposition within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to extending the curbs for a further nine months, speaking after he met his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad. The Saudi minister told a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Jabar Ali al-Luaibi that Iraq had given the “green light” to a proposal for a nine-month extension that would be presented to the meeting in the Austrian capital.

“All the countries within OPEC, which I have talked to have agreed on a nine-month extension.

Package containing live ants detained by customs

Mof adds 5.2b AFS to this year’s national budget KABUL

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PARIS

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ustoms ofSicers recently intercepted a shipment of live ants sent to China from France, saying that the alien species could have posed a risk to the ecosystem. A total of 792 live ants and more than a hundred ant eggs packed into more than 300 test tubes were intercepted and inspected by the Hunan Province Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, news portal thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

The package originated in France and the sender did not declare the contents, according to the bureau.

The intended recipient was a resident of Changsha, capital of Central China’s Hunan Province but customs ofSicials have not yet been able to reach the person, media reported.

The package and the insects will be

Jordan’s retail sector gains momentum n late February, Jordan’s Al Adnani Group signed an agreement with Kuwaiti property developer United Real Estate Company to build a 929-sqmetre health spa at the $300m Abdali Mall in Amman. Dubbed Gaia’s Cocoon and billed as “seven-star”, the womenonly spa will offer health and beauty products, alongside therapy services ranging from massage and facials to body toning and weight loss. Its completion could draw more people to the 227,000-sq-metre mall, which opened late last year and houses a supermarket, entertainment centre, food court, café and a range of mostly mid-tier stores.

International brands with outlets among the mall’s 55,000 sq metres of gross leasable area include Tati, Matalan, Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Oysho, Jules, Calzedonia, Punt Roma and PAUL. –CB Report

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disposed of by the bureau. The 10millimeter-long ants, which are considerably bigger than their Chinese relatives, are a species of common harvester ants that are spread across southern Europe, Russia and Ukraine, according to a Hunan customs ofSicial. The species eats seeds and small bugs, is able to adapt itself well to different conditions and has a strong ability to reproduce. The

inspector said that the ants have no natural predators in China, therefore they could pose a serious threat to the country’s natural environment and agriculture if they got loose and multiplied. The bureau speculated that the ants were probably destined for someone’s personal ant farm. According to relevant regulations, anyone who brings living alien species into China.

Swiss firms to showcase investment projects at SPIEF-2017

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wiss companies will showcase their investment projects at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Switzerland’s embassy in Russia said. “The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is one of the leading global communication platforms for representatives of business circles discussing key economic issues,” the embassy’s representative said, adding that “the forum will see a Swiss-Russian

round table, while Swiss Sirms will showcase their investment projects.”

Joerg Gasser, State Secretary for International Financial Matters, and Livia Leu, Head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), will head the country’s delegation at the economic forum in St. Petersburg. SPIEF will be held in Russia’s second-biggest city on June 1-3, 2017. –CB Report

n a recent cabinet meeting, government accepted to add 5.2 billion AFs to the national budget of the current Siscal year in order to address the needs of the Defense Ministry and a number of other government institutions, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said.

The Finance Ministry spokesman Ajmal Hamid Abdul Rahimzai said that despite an increase in this year’s budget, a number of budgetary units are faced with challenges in spending their allocated budget.

“The cabinet’s decision is made in accordance with the budget principles. We have added the amount to the budget. In addition to addressing the requirements of the Ministry of Defense, it will address the needs of other ministries as well,” Rahimzai said. Meanwhile, Sadiqi

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Nili Zada, an MP, said that increase and decrease in the national budget will create challenges.

He added that many development projects have not been implemented despite that the budget was approved by the parliament four months ago. “It would have been better if the Finance Ministry had added the amount at Sirst when the budget was approved [by the parliament].

Adding this much money to the budget in the middle of the year will create challenges. How the money will be spent for the [uplift] projects, how it will be processed and how will the work on projects and plans will progress in such a short time?” he asked. The national budget for the solar year 1396 (March 2017 to March 2018) is over 429 billion AFs of which 268 billion AFs is part of the ordinary budget and the remaining 160 billion AFs is part of the development budget. The national budget for the Siscal year 1396 was approved by the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) in January.

Taiwan’s economy seeing sluggish growth aiwan’s economy turned sluggish in April, with the overall monitoring index Slashing “yellowblue” for the Sirst time after nine consecutive months of stable growth, according to business indicators published on Friday by the National Development Council (NDC). The NDC uses a Sive-color system to gauge the country’s economic performance, with blue indicating economic recession, yellowblue representing economic sluggishness, green denoting stable growth, yellow-red referring to a warming economy and red pointing to economic overheating. The economic slowdown in April was primarily due to the strong

New Taiwan dollar, which has had a short-term impact on the overall economy, the NDC said. In terms of the monitoring indicator score, the total score for April was 21, on a scale of 9-45, with a higher score representing a more buoyant economy. Meanwhile, the economy Slashed a different color based on the council’s composite monitoring indicator, which measures growth or decline in nine components of the economy. Of the nine components, the score for two customscleared exports and TIER manufacturing sector composite lost one point each, changing their individual light from “green” to yellow-blue.” –CB Report

Scarcity of organic dairy produce in France

A PARIS

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s the French organic market continues to thrive, organic dairy product supplies are becoming scarce on the French market, according to Stéphanie Lahad in Bord Bia’s Paris OfSice. Organic dairy is increasingly popular in France where 71% of

the population are reported to have consumed organic dairy products in 2016, according to Agence Bio. This segment should continue to grow over the coming years as French consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality of their food, Lahand says. “Organic dairy products represented 18% of the organic food category in 2015, with 44.6% sold through multiple retailers while 29.3% was

sold through organic chains such as Biocoop. “In multiple retail, 9.3% of packaged UHT milk sold in 2016 was organic (+5.3% Vs 2015) and 99% of the volumes sold were sourced in France. “However, with an increase of 1% in the milk collection in 2016, due to bad weather conditions, it is not uncommon to notice shortages in stores on organic milk listings.” To address this issue, Lehand explained

that 145 dairy farmers were in the process of converting to organic milk production in France in 2015. This should lead to the availability of an additional 56 million litres on the market (+10.6%) at the end of this year, according to the CNIEL. In 2016, 45.7% of total organic milk production was packed while 9.6% was processed into yogurts and 3.4% into cheese according to France Agrimer.

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Hyderabad ASO seizes 63 kg opium on tip-off HYDERABAD: Model Customs Collectorate, Anti-Smuggling Organization, Hyderabad Customs Preventive Larkana-Khairpur, confiscated 63 kilogram of opium. Following a tip-off, Customs staff of ASO squad (Larkana), MCC Hyderabad, on 24th of May 2017, foiled an attempt of smuggling of 63 kg opium valued around Rs130million in the international market by intercepting a trailer and arrested the driver of vehicle.

Collector Hyderabad Akhlaq Ahmad Khattaq directed his staff to curb smuggling attempts in the region.

Monday, May 29, 2017

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No govt could increase revenue collection by 80% in first 4 years of tenure: Rana Afzal ISLAMABAD M ARSHAD

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arliamentary Secretary for Finance and Revenue Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, claimed that no government in the history of Pakistan could have increased the tax collection by 80% in Sirst four years of its tenure. Now the government is collecting taxes from the rich class of society and spending on the welfare of poor people. “Historically, tax to GDP ratio has been low in Pakistan and we will higher it from 13.2% to 13.7%” Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan said in an exclusive interview with Customs Today here after presentation of federal budget before the National Assembly.

To a question about the allegation leveled by opposition that budget was not people friendly, Parliamentary Secretary said that allegations of the opposition parties were of traditional nature as no opposition had ever dared to declare budget presented by the government as people friendly.

However, he said that the government had presented its budget proposals before the parliament and these proposals would remain un-

der discussion for next 17 days. Due course discussion, the government will incorporate appropriate and practical proposals and suggestions received from the opposition and even private sectors too” he added.

When asked to describe some of

public interest and welfare natured points of the budget, he said that the most important and key point of the budget having the public welfare nature was an increase of around 20-22% in the allocations for monthly contribution for the

poor people. “Similarly, a record high increase around 50 % in allocations of Rs 47 billion for the Higher Education Commission has been made. Therefore, now the HEC will Sinance 1000 Ph.D scholars every year” he added.

“An amount of over Rs10 billion have been Sixed as SDGs in health sector and this amount will be provided to all provinces. Same amount Rs10 billion has also been Sixed for health insurance sector” he noted.

Moreover, he said that the government had Sixed target of GDP growth 6%. Investment to GDP ratio will also be increased to 17% and inSlation will be lowered than 6% for coming Siscal year. Budget deSicit in the form of loans will be curtailed at 4% and 4% is an acceptable Sigure across the globe.

“The most welcoming development is that outlay of federal development is Rs 1001 billion; over Rs 400 billion will be spent on energy and power projects and over Rs400 billion will be spent on infrastructure related projects including roads, highways, motorways, railways, aviation and others” he maintained. Allocation for this sector has been higher up to 26% than the previous year which was Rs 851 billion. He said that these allocations would be translated into jobs for common people. We expect improved rates of our exportable products like rice, textile and a few others. We will support exports and our imports have also increased and it is good development that imports of machinery have increased almost 40% which will play positive role in future economic uplift.

M/s Motiwala Jewellers files plea in SHC challenging tax notice KARACHI

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/s Motiwala Jewellers moved the Sindh High Court (SHC), challenging impugned demand notice of Rs16,896,254 issued by Additional Commissioner Inland Revenue Range-A, Zone-III Regional Tax OfSice-II. Muhammad Hanif, proprietor of M/s Motiwala Jewellers stated in its

constitutional petition that petitioner is an importer and exporter of gold and derives income from running a jewellery shop, he also drives rental income and during the year also received foreign remittances, counsel argued that his client always fulSils all liabilities according to the law. He further submitted that additional commissioner Inland Revenue Range-A, Zone-III Regional Tax OfSice-II issued notice for tax demand of Rs16,896,254 being aggrieved he moved and Siled appeal before Commissioner Inland Revenue AppealsIV along with stay application, however, stay has not been granted yet,

therefore, he has apprehension of coercive measures from respondents.

Citing Commissioner Inland Revenue Range-A, Zone-III Regional Tax OfSiceII, Additional Commissioner Inland Revenue Range-A, Zone-III Regional Tax OfSice-II and Commissioner Inland Revenue Appeals-IV as respondents, he pleaded the court may declare that act of the respondent is illegal, mala Side and arbitrary, he also pleaded the court may restrain the tax department from taking any coercive measures against the petitioner till Sinal disposal of its appeal pending before CIR Appeals. Meanwhile, The Sindh High Court (SHC) restricted tax

department from recovery till next date of hearing on a constitutional petition Siled by M/s Master Motor Corporation Pvt Ltd against demand notice of alleged payment of the evaded sales tax along with penalty issued by Assistant Commissioner Inland Revenue Audit Unit-IV, Zone-II LTU Karachi. A two-member bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi heard the petition. Court also directed tax department and deputy attorney general to Sile their respective para wise comments on next date of hearing, court adjourned the matter. Earlier, counsel for the petitioner stated in its constitutional pe-

Published by M S Raza Off# 42, 3rd Flr Gull Plaza M.A Road Karachi, Printed by Dhoom Printing Building No RY/A, 11/6,11/7, Mashoor Mahal,off I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi

tition that it is a private limited company and is engaged in the lawful business of assembling and sales of light trucks of Chinese brand and always pay the all liabilities properly.

According to the petitioner, above mentioned respondent issued a show cause notice to the it under section 4 (2) of the Sales Tax Act 1990 alleging a few discrepancies, therefore, petitioner submitted its reply along with all the relevant documents, having found the reply unsatisfactory, the ofSicials of the tax authority passed requiring the petitioner to pay the evaded sales tax along with penalty.