Category: Information Technology

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may not extend the last date (December 8) for filing of income tax returns for the tax year 2020, senior tax officials revealed to ProPakistani.

Sources familiar with the matter told ProPakistani that if the FBR announces any extension in the date for return filing, it would be after the expiry of the due date to ensure maximum filing of returns by the deadline of December 8. The decision would be taken in light of the exact number of returns to be filed by December 8, 2020. So far, no decision has been taken regarding the extension for return filing.

On the other hand, a leading tax expert informed ProPakistani that the draft simplified return for manufacturers (for Individuals & AOP having turnover of less than Rs. 50 million) has been introduced vide SRO 1261 dated 26.9.2020. The last page of the SRO 1261 stated that this return would be applicable for the Tax Year 2020. It is expected that this would be one of the major reasons for the extension date. The final version of the return was expected in seven days but has not been issued so far.

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Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has informed the FBR that regrettably, the incorrect computational issues persist, and tax advisers are facing severe difficulties and are under extreme pressure because of the two main issues.

They cannot file the returns on the forms presently available on the IRIS, with wrong formulas, calculating erroneous tax and the resurgence of the currently ongoing, since past many days, the dangerous life-threatening the second wave of COVID-19, which has not only gripped the taxpayers but has also affected the members of KTBA in particular and tax consultants in general and their staff.

Pakistan Tax Bar Association has approached FBR Chairman for an extension in date for filing of income tax returns till January 2021.

In a letter to the FBR, the PTBA stated that the second wave of COVID-19 emerged in the country, which is much dangerous as compared to the 1st wave as per National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention here that several areas of the county are under lockdown, smart lockdown, and micro lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation.

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The letter further states that as per the instructions of the FBR, only 50 percent of the employees are working in this situation, which also strengthens our contention that generally, the people and particularly the taxpayers are facing hardship during the current situation of COVID-19.

“No doubt that the COVID-19 has adversely affected the whole world, even the Asian countries are also suffering hardship due to COVID-19. It is worth mentioning that normal life and normal business activities are not going on due to the COVID-19 situation, which can be evaluated from the fact that even the Government of India has further extended time for filing of returns till January 31, 2021, from the original due date i.e., July 31, 2020,” said the letter.

Thus, timely filing of returns of income for the tax year 2020 in this situation is not possible.

“Apart from the above situation, we would like to draw your attention towards the issues being faced by the taxpayers in general and by the tax consultants in particular regarding minimum tax liability wrongly calculated by the system while filing income tax returns for the tax year 2020,” added the letter.

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Moreover, the other issues like tax calculation of Behbood saving certificates and profit, etc., are also required to be deployed correctly in the system. Unfortunately, to date, the issue pertaining to the calculation of minimum tax liability by the system is persistent and not resolved, which needs special attention from the Revenue Board.

PTBA has suggested the FBR extend the deadline by 60 days for filing of income tax returns by the taxpayers.

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State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) reserves fell by $305 million in a week, according to data released by the SBP.

On November 27, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $13,110.9 million. This shows a 2.27 percent decrease as compared to the recorded reserves of $13,415.5 million for the week before.

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According to SBP, the decline in reserves is due to the external debt payments.

Net reserves held by banks other than SBP stood at $7,130.9 million, while overall liquid foreign currency reserves amounted to $20,241.8 million.

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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has fixed Rs. 541 billion as tax collection target for December 2020 for its field formations to meet the half-year target of Rs. 2.210 trillion during 2020-21.

Senior FBR officials told Propakistani that the tax projection for December has been estimated at Rs. 541 billion. To achieve the target of Rs. 2.210 trillion during the first half (July-December) 2020-21, it is necessary to meet this target of Rs. 541 billion.

“Keeping in view the last five months collection and annual target of Rs. 4.9 trillion, the target for December 2020 has been set at Rs. 541 billion. No decision has been taken to downward revise the annual target of Rs 4.9 trillion,” they added.

Against the target of Rs. 348 billion for November 2020, the FBR has collected Rs. 347 billion during last month.
The revenue collection target for October was fixed at Rs. 352 billion. The target for July was fixed at Rs. 243 billion, whereas the target for August was Rs. 308 billion. The tax collection target for September was fixed at Rs. 418 billion.

The FBR has collected Rs. 1.688 trillion net revenue in the current Fiscal Year from July to November against the target of Rs. 1.669 trillion, whereas revenue collected was Rs. 1.623 trillion in the previous year. Income Tax collection for July to November stood at Rs. 577 billion. Similarly, collection of Sales Tax, Federal Excise Duty, Customs Duty remained at Rs. 743 billion, Rs. 104 billion and Rs. 264.4 billion, respectively.

FBR has collected a gross revenue of Rs. 1.773 trillion in the first five months from July to November, which was Rs. 1.664 trillion in the previous year, thus showing an increase of Rs. 109 billion in the current year. For November only, the total collected revenue stood at Rs. 347 billion against the target of Rs. 348 billion.

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After the departure of Shahid Afridi and Aftab Alam from the Lanka Premier League (LPL), two more players are set to quit the first edition of the tournament.

Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir and the Canadian cricketer, Ravinderpal Singh, are the latest to exit the league.

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The two players had tested positive on arrival in Sri Lanka and had been in an isolation facility since then. Though the players returned two negative PCR tests, the international protocol doesn’t allow them to stay.

According to sources privy to the development, both players are scheduled to leave for respective countries on the first available flights.

“Their last PCR tests were negative but as per the American Medical Association guidelines for COVID-19 recovered patients much more care needs to be taken,” Prof. Arjuna de Silva, the Medical Director of the tournament confirmed.

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The doctor noted that COVID-19 infections could result in a higher amount of myocarditis (swelling of the heart), compared to other viral infections.

“Therefore in athletes, it is better to do ECHO and in some patients even MRI may be required as professional athletes engage in severe exercise. It is therefore advised that even in asymptomatic athletes after the two weeks of quarantine the player should undergo a gradual medically supervised program over 2 two weeks before the resumption of competitive sports. Unless he or she undergoes extensive testing before. If there is myocarditis then the usual protocol of 3 months will apply,” Arjuna explained.

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In a major development, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan banned the use of mobile electronics during cabinet meetings. According to a notification issued by the provincial government, all ministers, advisers, special assistants, secretaries, and officials were ordered to abstain from using mobiles during cabinet meetings.

Earlier this year, the federal government directed provincial governments to ban the use of social networking applications, with fears of leakage of confidential letters and cyberattacks by foreign agencies. The notification on Thursday directs ministers, special assistants, and advisers to strictly follow this regulation.

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The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday also banned dine-in services in hotels and restaurants to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The usual takeaway and delivery services will remain operational throughout the province, according to a report.

In lieu of the KP government’s decision, district-assigned assistant commissioners, extra assistant commissioners, magistrates, and police offers have been mobilized to ensure that no dining services take place inside hotels and restaurants.

Assistant commissioners visited different hotels and restaurants in Peshawar and cantonment areas. Strict warnings were issued at all venues, with closure notices to be circulated to violators who fail to adhere to the new regulation.

Meanwhile, restaurants and hotels at Namak Mandai, Peshawar’s famous food street behind the historical Qissa Khwani bazaar that normally attracted a substantial number of BBQ, Chappli Kabab, Peshawari and Kabuli Pulao lovers, has shown a decrease in customers after a spike in COVID-19 cases.

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With KP reporting a 5.6 percent positivity ratio since the second wave hit the country, recursive action against the spread of the virus is currently underway.

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A group of researchers led by Nirupam Roy from the University of Maryland, in collaboration with assistant professor Jun Han of the University of Singapore, has seemingly established that commonly used robotic vacuum cleaners can be hacked remotely and used as a microphone. This research was presented at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems (SenSys 2020) last month.

The researchers tested and collected information from the laser-based navigation system in a robot vacuum. They then applied signal processing and deep learning techniques to recover speech and were able to identify television programs playing in the same room where the device was operating.

The research reveals how the devices can be used for eavesdropping. They detailed how almost all the devices that use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology can be manipulated as a monitoring device by transmitting sound even if they do not have a microphone.

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The LiDAR systems operate by directing a laser beam around the room. The reflected signals are then used to map the room, enabling the robot to navigate the room without collisions.

Apart from being manipulated to eavesdrop, the mapping data from these vacuums can also be accessed and used by hackers since they are mostly stored on the cloud. Simple privacy breaches can give information about things such as home size and other privileged data. Robot vacuum cleaners are just one example of potential vulnerability to LiDAR-based espionage activities. Many other devices are susceptible to hackers.

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The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has approved the construction of 4,000 apartments under Phase 1 of the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme.

According to an LDA spokesperson, this project will cost approximately Rs. 10 billion and citizens will receive prior facilitation to buy the apartments.

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The meeting for the scheduling of this project was headed by the LDA Vice-Chairman, S. M. Imran. The LDA’s Director-General, Ahmed Aziz Tarar, briefed the attendants of the meeting about the new agenda.

“The apartments will be constructed on 563 kanals of land in Mouza Haloki within a year. As many as 125 blocks of four-story apartments will be constructed on the land, and each block will consist of 32 residential units while numerous mosques will also be built here,” he said.

The state officials who attended the meeting also decided on the construction of roads, water treatment plants, water supply and sewerage systems, sidewalks, and related framework.

According to reports, 8,500 kanals of land allotted for the construction of 35,000 apartments with a PC-1 form for a Rs. 20 billion kitty was also approved.

The attendees also approved the financial model proposed by Aslam Malik & Co. – a financial consultant to be appointed for the LDA City Naya Pakistan Apartments Project – to make the construction of these apartments a viable project.

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The meeting concluded on the consensus to devise a standard model to facilitate the citizens who are eligible to buy these apartments.

The Naya Pakistan Housing Authority and Bank Mortgage Financing will offer buyers the option to pay a 10 percent down payment on their purchase while 80 percent of the total cost will be transferred to the mortgage lender’s account according to verified payment plans.

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According to the Federal Secretary Maritime Affairs, Rizwan Ahmed, the government has approved the Gwadar Smart City Master Plan. According to reports, Gwadar’s economic output is expected to exceed $30 billion, while creating up to 1.2 million jobs for skilled workers.

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Rizwan Ahmed briefed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a meeting chaired by MNA, Munazza Hassan, regarding a tentative review audit for the Maritimes Division. According to reports, all audit objections for the year 2009 were closed, and proceedings adjourned for new projects.

The Federal Secretary Maritime Affairs suggested that within the next three to four years, Gwadar will facilitate Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan, with China already in the Trade Belt mix. The Master Plan reportedly mentioned the establishment of international exhibition centers, theme parks, luxury resorts, botanical gardens, and museums in a thriving modern city.

The city will attract high paid jobs, as the government is keen to provide a tax-free environment. Pakistan’s largest international airport has been inaugurated, high-tech industries will be established, and mega shopping malls, luxury resorts, and manmade islands will change the national outlook.

According to reports, the Master Plan includes a $5 billion investment into Gwadar’s power sector for 15 new power plants, a $1 billion kitty to generate 700,000 cubic meters of fresh water through desalination plants, a central business district, and a manmade island.

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Gwadar will require some 15,800 new homes by 2025, 47,600 by 2030, and 254,500 by 2050, according to the new Gwadar Smart City Master Plan.

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