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6<br />
Sunday, <strong>November</strong> <strong>11</strong>, <strong>2018</strong><br />
Biz<br />
Tax courts being<br />
established for speedy<br />
trial of tax cases: Asad<br />
I S L A M A B A D :<br />
Finance Minister Asad<br />
Umar has said that an<br />
amount of one billion dollars<br />
from Saudi Arabia<br />
will be received by<br />
Pakistan within a couple<br />
of days.<br />
In a meeting with<br />
industrialists at Overseas<br />
Chamber of Commerce<br />
and later talking to media<br />
in Karachi on Saturday, he<br />
said tax courts are being<br />
established for speedy trial<br />
of tax cases as the case<br />
regarding 1300 billion<br />
rupees tax are currently<br />
under trial in courts.<br />
Asad Umar said that<br />
FATF is serious issue and<br />
there is hope of progress<br />
in January next year in the<br />
issue.<br />
He stressed on the need<br />
for improving tax collecting<br />
machinery.<br />
The Minister said<br />
Hundi and other illegal<br />
methods of bringing<br />
money have caused<br />
immense damage to the<br />
country.<br />
He said there are assets<br />
of four thousand<br />
Pakistanis in Dubai, while<br />
ninety-seven thousand<br />
Pakistanis also possess<br />
properties in other countries<br />
of the world as well.<br />
SRO 1305 to backtrack financial inclusion,<br />
encourage cash economy: Makda<br />
KARACHI: President<br />
of the Karachi Chamber of<br />
Commerce & Industry<br />
(KCCI) Junaid Esmail<br />
Makda, while strongly<br />
opposing the issuance of<br />
SRO 1305 (I) <strong>2018</strong> by<br />
Federal Board of Revenue<br />
(FBR), stated that by giving<br />
access to account holders<br />
info under the said<br />
SRO, efforts being made<br />
for financial inclusion will<br />
be backtracked because it<br />
would encourage cash<br />
economy due to fear of<br />
harassment.<br />
In a statement, Makda<br />
pointed out that under this<br />
SRO, FBR had prescribed<br />
a Cash Withdrawal<br />
Statement for banks to<br />
report information of persons<br />
who have withdrawn<br />
cash exceeding Rs 50,000<br />
in a day and taxes deduction<br />
thereon for filers and<br />
non-filers, aggregating to<br />
Rs1 million or more during<br />
the month.<br />
“Instead of seeking<br />
information of both filers<br />
and non-filers, it would<br />
have been appropriate to<br />
seek information of nonfilers<br />
only which would<br />
have encouraged non-filers<br />
to become filers, resulting<br />
in broadening the tax net of<br />
the country,” he added.<br />
Referring to Karachi<br />
Chamber’s clear stance<br />
against the massive discretionary<br />
powers to FBR,<br />
President KCCI stated that<br />
the present government has<br />
assured from time to time<br />
that no harassment will be<br />
made either by FBR or FIA<br />
but such SROs may lead to<br />
further harassment to the<br />
masses, including the<br />
members of the business<br />
and industrial community.<br />
He said, “As we firmly<br />
believe in legislations, the<br />
Karachi Chamber has<br />
always vocally opposed the<br />
SRO culture which has to<br />
be ended as it only paves<br />
RAWALPINDI: A man prepares tawa qeema for the customers.<br />
way for harassment and<br />
corruption.”<br />
“If given access to<br />
account holders’ details,<br />
more avenues of corruption<br />
will open where tax officials<br />
will start making<br />
under the table money by<br />
harassing people and businesses,”<br />
he added.<br />
He urged the Ministry<br />
of Finance to withdraw the<br />
‘draconian’ provisions and<br />
laws which have extended<br />
immense discretionary<br />
powers to the officers of<br />
Inland Revenue. “We<br />
believe it is a core issue,<br />
resulting in loss of productivity<br />
and mental torture to<br />
the business community,”<br />
Junaid Makda said, “These<br />
laws have kept a large<br />
number of potential taxpayers<br />
out of the tax<br />
regime. In fact, these laws<br />
are a deterrent to broadening<br />
of tax-net and have<br />
resulted in promoting the<br />
culture of tax-evasion.”<br />
FBR issues Rs8.741bn sales tax refunds to<br />
739 claimants from export-oriented sectors<br />
ISLAMABAD: The<br />
Federal Board of Revenue<br />
(FBR) has released sales<br />
tax refunds of to Rs 8.741<br />
billion to some 739<br />
claimants from five<br />
export-oriented zero-rated<br />
sectors such as textiles,<br />
carpets, leather, sports<br />
goods and surgical instruments.<br />
The Bureau had issued<br />
an advice to the State Bank<br />
of Pakistan for making the<br />
payment of refunds to the<br />
exporters against 4,<strong>11</strong>7<br />
refund payment orders<br />
issued up to <strong>November</strong> 8,<br />
<strong>2018</strong>, an FBR press statement<br />
said here Saturday.<br />
The refund payments<br />
would be transmitted electronically<br />
to the respective<br />
bank accounts of the<br />
claimants by the SBP by<br />
the close of banking hours<br />
on Monday, <strong>November</strong> 12,<br />
it added.<br />
The FBR said the payments<br />
had been made to all<br />
those claimants of the<br />
aforesaid categories, who<br />
had provided their bank<br />
account details in IBAN<br />
format. Those refund<br />
claimants, who had not<br />
provided account number<br />
in the IBAN format,<br />
should provide the same<br />
through their user ID on<br />
FBR’s web portal, it<br />
added.<br />
The statement said the<br />
FBR was conscious of the<br />
problems being faced by<br />
the businesses on account<br />
of outstanding refunds and<br />
was working on a plan to<br />
pay the remaining outstanding<br />
refund claims at<br />
the earliest.<br />
Dry fruit rates hike<br />
LARKANA: As winter<br />
weather is about to start the<br />
rates of dry fruit have skyrocketed<br />
in Larkana.<br />
In winter season, the<br />
consumption of dry fruits<br />
increases, but the poor and<br />
low-income people are getting<br />
affected with the<br />
increasing prices.<br />
In local market almonds<br />
are being sold from Rs1400<br />
to Rs1600 per kilogram,<br />
pistachio from Rs2400 to<br />
Rs2600, walnuts Rs1200 to<br />
Rs1400, dried figs Rs1400<br />
to Rs1600 and cashew nut<br />
from Rs1600 to Rs2000 per<br />
kilogram.<br />
Due to increasing prices,<br />
public is unhappy with the<br />
sellers. It is demanded by<br />
them to keep a strict price<br />
control in the district.<br />
Govt lauded for<br />
empowering<br />
ADRCs<br />
R A W A L P I N D I :<br />
Islamabad Tax Bar<br />
Association (RITBA) on<br />
Saturday lauded the government<br />
for improving<br />
rules for Alternate Dispute<br />
Resolution<br />
(ADRCs) which will facilitate<br />
taxpayers as well as<br />
the tax collectors.<br />
The move to empower<br />
ADRCs will provide relief<br />
to taxpayers and reduce litigation<br />
thereby lessening<br />
the burden on the courts<br />
and the tax administration,<br />
it said.<br />
The out-of-court settlement<br />
of tax disputes has<br />
become an important part<br />
of the tax system around<br />
the world while it was not<br />
effective in Pakistan until<br />
recently resulting in many<br />
problems, said Syed<br />
Tauqeer Bukhari, President<br />
of RITBA.<br />
He said that revenue of<br />
over Rs1.276 trillion is<br />
stuck at different stages of<br />
litigation in 31,098 cases<br />
which is part of the numerous<br />
challenges the tax system<br />
is facing.<br />
Syed Tauqeer Bukhari<br />
said that it is very important<br />
to understand the reasons<br />
for such a high number<br />
of cases against the<br />
FBR so that tax collection<br />
can be improved which is<br />
dismally low.<br />
QUETTA: People are buying clothes from a roadside setup outside Ayub Stadium.<br />
SAARC CCI Pakistan chapter cancels Chennai’s<br />
visit due to Indian hostility towards Pakistan<br />
LAHORE: SAARC<br />
CCI Pakistan chapter cancelled<br />
Committees<br />
its three-day visit to<br />
India at the eleventh's hour<br />
to participate in the 76th<br />
executive meeting of<br />
SAARC chamber, commencing<br />
from Nov 10 in<br />
Chennai India due its hostility<br />
towards Pakistan<br />
especially in regard of sabotaging<br />
19th SAARC<br />
Summit which slowed<br />
down the pace of regional<br />
cooperation and integration.<br />
Talking to media here<br />
I S L A M A B A D :<br />
Ahmed Hassan<br />
Moughal, President,<br />
Islamabad Chamber of<br />
Commerce & Industry<br />
has called upon the government<br />
to give more<br />
focus to the furniture<br />
industry which has great<br />
potential to promote<br />
business activities and<br />
exports.<br />
He said Pakistan has<br />
huge scope for producing<br />
high quality furniture<br />
products as its many<br />
regions were known for<br />
NEW YORK: Apple Inc<br />
said on Friday it had found<br />
some issues affecting some<br />
of its iPhone X and 13-inch<br />
MacBook pro products and<br />
said the company would fix<br />
them free of charge.<br />
The repair offers are the<br />
latest in a string of product<br />
quality problems over the<br />
past year even as Apple has<br />
raised prices for most of its<br />
laptops, tablets and phones<br />
to new heights. Its top-end<br />
iPhones now sell for as<br />
much as $1,449 and its best<br />
iPad goes for as much as<br />
$1,899.<br />
Apple said displays on<br />
iPhone X, which came out in<br />
2017 with a starting price of<br />
$999, may experience touch<br />
issues due to a component<br />
failure, adding it would<br />
replace those parts for free.<br />
The company said it only<br />
affects the original iPhone<br />
X, which has been superseded<br />
by the iPhone XS and XR<br />
released this autumn.<br />
The screens on affected<br />
phones may not respond correctly<br />
to touch or it could<br />
react even without being<br />
touched, the Cupertino,<br />
California-based company<br />
on Saturday, SAARC CCI<br />
Senior Vice President<br />
(SVP) Iftikhar Ali Malik<br />
said Prime Minister Imran<br />
Khan’s maiden speech<br />
after assuming premiership<br />
reflected Pakistan’s<br />
foreign policy towards<br />
India as Imran said if India<br />
would take one step,<br />
Pakistan would take two<br />
steps forward to normalize<br />
relations for the betterment<br />
of the poor strata of the<br />
region. “But India’s Prime<br />
Minister Modi response<br />
was arrogant and negative<br />
exquisite woodwork and<br />
carving. He said if the<br />
government paid more<br />
attention to this industry<br />
and provided support,<br />
this industry could make<br />
significant contribution<br />
to improving exports of<br />
the country. He was<br />
inaugurating Pakistan<br />
Lifestyle and Furniture<br />
Expo as Honorable<br />
Guest that was organized<br />
by Furniture Pakistan<br />
and Event Mania at<br />
Islamabad.<br />
Ahmed<br />
Hassan<br />
said.<br />
For the 13-inch<br />
MacBook Pro computers, it<br />
said an issue may result in<br />
data loss and failure of the<br />
storage drive. Apple said it<br />
would service those affected<br />
drives.<br />
Moughal said that the<br />
global furniture market<br />
was reportedly valued at<br />
over USD 331 billion in<br />
2017 and was expected<br />
to reach around USD<br />
472 billion by 2024.<br />
However, Pakistan’s<br />
share in this huge market<br />
was quite nominal and<br />
stressed that there was an<br />
urgent need to chalk out<br />
a comprehensive strategy<br />
to explore international<br />
market for boosting<br />
exports of Pakistan’s<br />
world-class furniture<br />
Only a limited number of<br />
128GB and 256GB solidstate<br />
drives in 13-inch<br />
MacBook Pro units sold<br />
between June 2017 and June<br />
<strong>2018</strong> were affected, Apple<br />
said apple.co/2AXkeEw on<br />
its website.<br />
which marred another sincere<br />
effort of Pakistan<br />
towards normalization of<br />
relationship,” adding he<br />
said India missed a goodwill<br />
gesture from Pakistan<br />
side as relationship<br />
between two countries is<br />
reciprocal and one cannot<br />
run this on one way traffic<br />
as there is always two way<br />
traffic to strengthen the<br />
relations between the<br />
neighboring countries.<br />
He further said despite<br />
the “unfortunate cancellation”<br />
of the planned meeting<br />
of foreign ministers on<br />
the sidelines of the United<br />
Nations General Assembly<br />
in New York, Pakistan<br />
showed leniency and ready<br />
to open the border for<br />
Indian pilgrims to access<br />
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in<br />
Kartarpur. “India will have<br />
to decide on the future<br />
course of engagement with<br />
Pakistan but Islamabad is<br />
ready to discuss all outstanding<br />
issues as it<br />
believes wars and hostility<br />
provide no solution,” he<br />
added.<br />
ICCI for focusing on furniture industry to promote exports<br />
products.<br />
He emphasized that<br />
the government should<br />
cooperate with furniture<br />
manufacturers and<br />
exporters in organizing<br />
exhibitions in foreign<br />
countries that would help<br />
in promoting Pakistan’s<br />
exports in international<br />
market.<br />
He said Pakistani foreign<br />
missions should<br />
also explore potential of<br />
Pakistani furniture products<br />
in their respective<br />
countries.<br />
Apple finds quality problems in some<br />
iPhone X and MacBook models<br />
OSLO: Norway said it<br />
was freezing all defence<br />
material export licences<br />
to Saudi Arabia over<br />
recent developments in<br />
the country and the war<br />
in Yemen.<br />
The announcement<br />
came amid international<br />
outrage over Riyadh's<br />
killing of Saudi journalist<br />
Jamal Khashoggi in the<br />
kingdom's consulate in<br />
Istanbul in October,<br />
though Norway did not<br />
mention the murder<br />
specifically.<br />
"We have decided<br />
that, in the current situation,<br />
no new licences are<br />
to be granted for exports<br />
of defence-related products<br />
or dual-use items for<br />
military use to Saudi<br />
Arabia," Foreign<br />
Minister Ine Eriksen<br />
Soreide said in a statement.<br />
"The decision was<br />
taken after an overall<br />
assessment of recent<br />
developments in Saudi<br />
Arabia and the region,<br />
and the unpredictable situation<br />
in Yemen," the<br />
foreign ministry said.<br />
Norway sold defence<br />
material worth more than<br />
41 million kroner ($4.86<br />
million, 4.29 million<br />
euros) to Riyadh last<br />
year, according to<br />
Norwegian news agency<br />
NTB.<br />
The Scandinavian<br />
country has never<br />
allowed exports of arms<br />
or ammunition to Saudi<br />
Arabia, the ministry said.<br />
It said it had no indication<br />
that Norwegian<br />
defence-related products<br />
were being used in<br />
Yemen, and stressed its<br />
decision was "precautionary".<br />
Saudi Arabia leads a<br />
coalition that intervened<br />
in Yemen in 2015 to support<br />
the government<br />
there against Houthi<br />
rebels who are backed by<br />
Riyadh's arch enemy<br />
Iran.<br />
The coalition has been<br />
waging an aerial bombing<br />
campaign in Yemen<br />
aimed at pushing the<br />
Houthis back, but the<br />
rebels still hold the key<br />
port city of Hodeida and<br />
the capital Sanaa.<br />
Last year, Apple began a<br />
massive battery replacement<br />
program after it conceded<br />
that a software update<br />
intended to help some<br />
iPhone models deal with<br />
aging batteries slowed down<br />
the performance of the<br />
phones. The battery<br />
imbroglio resulted in<br />
inquires from U.S. lawmakers.<br />
In June, Apple said it<br />
would offer free replacements<br />
for the keyboards in<br />
some MacBook and<br />
MacBook Pro models. The<br />
keyboards, which Apple<br />
introduced in laptops starting<br />
in 2015, had generated<br />
complaints on social media<br />
for how much noise they<br />
made while typing and for<br />
malfunctioning unexpectedly.<br />
Apple changed the design<br />
of the keyboard this year,<br />
adding a layer of silicone<br />
underneath the keys.<br />
Norway freezes defence export licences to Saudi<br />
Pro-government forces<br />
are currently pushing<br />
deeper into Hodeida amid<br />
fierce fighting.<br />
Nearly 10,000<br />
Yemenis have been killed<br />
in the conflict since 2015,<br />
according to the World<br />
Health Organization.<br />
Human rights groups say<br />
the real death toll may be<br />
five times higher.<br />
Several aid organizations<br />
and opposition parties<br />
have recently<br />
demanded that Norway<br />
halt its defence material<br />
exports to Saudi Arabia.
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