Income Tax Consultant (Pakistan)

KARACHI: Each individual filing income tax return for tax year 2015 is required to file wealth statement as well. This condition has become mandatory after the withdrawal of threshold of Rs 1 million that was available in the past years. After this mandatory requirement salaried persons drawing annual income above Rs400,000 and Individual business persons having income Rs300,000 per year will file wealth statement along with income tax returns for tax year 2015. According to instructions of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) the following persons are required to furnish a return of income for a tax year: (a) Every company; (b) Every person (other than a company) whose taxable income for the year exceeds PKR 400,000; (c) Every non-profit organization as defined in clause (36) of section 2; (d) Every welfare institution approved under clause (58) of Part I of the Second Schedule; (e) Every person who has been charged to tax in respect of any of the two preceding tax years; (f) Every pers...

Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: A program on how to e-Register, e-Prepare and e-File your Income Tax Return and Wealth Statement alongwith Wealth Reconciliation Statement by M. Zeeshan Merchant on Geo Tv in program 1 sey 2 with Shuja Qureshi (Dated - 2010)

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started a project to develop a database in order to make possible the utilization of the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) number as the national tax number (NTN) and it would be completed in December this year. Official sources said that the FBR was working on this project with the coordination of the Nadra and other departments concerned. After the completion of the database, the FBR will be able to keep an eye on every business-related activity as the CNIC is used everywhere from bank transactions to foreign tours and sale and purchase of property. This database would also help the FBR in scrutinising the data of tax return filers, especially those who are filing returns through self-introductory system but are paying no taxes It is important to mention here that it was announced in Finance Bill 2015-16 that CNIC number will be treated as NTN but it was not elaborated in depth. Source: ...

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has initiated a drive to identify income sources of luxurious vehicles’ owners to ensure their tax return filings, confiscating vehicles on non-compliance, official sources said on Thursday. The sources said tax officials are obtaining data of registered motor vehicles above 1,000cc to determine the sources of income of their owners to increase filings of tax returns. They told The News that Inland Revenue asked local car assemblers and customs authorities to share the last five-year data of purchased vehicles with the tax department. “We are comparing this with the data provided by the provincial motor vehicle registration authorities,” said a source. The sources said the FBR has started issuing notices to the owners of vehicles and around 422 vehicles have been seized on non-compliance. Motor vehicle registration authorities of various cities have so far shared data of 821,000 registered vehicles abov...

Taxpayers are in a state of obscurity as Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) remains unable to issue User ID, Password and Pin Code after lapse of three months. Although the board has announced to launch new 'Registration Module' from July 1, 2015, the same has so far not been introduced, putting the taxpayers in uncertain state.  In this regard, the Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has raised the issue with the member IT Raana Ahmed, expressing grave concerns over long delay in tax registration and issuance of User ID, Password and Pin Code, etc. Read full story  

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s car market has been dominated by Japanese automakers for decades, but a mini-economic revival looks set to attract new players from Europe and Korea into the mix. Despite heavy taxation on imported vehicles, enthusiasm for owning a car in Pakistan has remained undented — thanks in part to underdeveloped public transport in the country’s sprawling cities, but also the social status it brings. Toyota, Suzuki and Honda car assembly plants already work around the clock in the southern port city of Karachi and eastern Lahore — yet customers can still wait for up to four months for new vehicles to be delivered. Now demand for cars in the South Asian giant of 200 million people is accelerating even more quickly, as economic growth has reached its fastest pace since 2008 while renewed investor confidence and easing inflation have spurred consumer spending. Keen to cash in, a delegation from German auto giant Volkswagen visited the countr...

ISLAMABAD: The sale of spurious and unregistered drugs is on rise in Federal Capital owing to the shortage of drug inspectors.  According to the sources, there is only one drug inspector in the federal capital to keep an eye on over 700 medical stores located in both urban and rural areas of the city and check the sale of spurious and unregistered drugs. Along with the seven hundred medical stores, the drug inspector is also duty bound to monitor the city nine big government and private hospitals and check the sale and spurious and unregistered drugs. The sources have been revealed that the finance division had turndown the request of health ministry of appointment of five more drug inspectors. It stated that presently only one drug inspector is active in Federal Capital to keep eye more than 700 medial stores and 9 hospitals. For this he has to travel 1165.5km distance for checking the sale and spurious and unregistered drugs of different medical stores...

WASHINGTON: BuzzFeed, the website which lives off viral and "shareable" news, got a major boost for expansion plans Tuesday with a $200 million investment from NBCUniversal. The deal with NBCU, a division of the media and cable conglomerate Comcast, calls for "strategic partnerships" between the two groups, which could allow sharing of content between BuzzFeed and the vast NBC television operations. The deal values the "social news" pioneer at some $1.5 billion, according to several media reports. The companies did not comment on the valuation terms of the investment. "It´s a fascinating time for the media industry; social, mobile, digital, and broadcast platforms are converging to create new opportunities to connect with global audiences," said Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed´s founder and chief executive. The news comes just a week after NBCUniversal announced a similar $200 million injection into another digital news group,...

ISLAMABAD: Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue has asked the non-filers to file their tax returns of 2014 by 28th February 2016 and get exemption from withholding tax deduction on their banking transactions, says a press release. Addressing business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said that government has adopted a soft approach on withholding tax and it was a good opportunity for non-filers to declare their hidden assets, sales and turnovers honestly and file their tax returns that would be accepted without questioning them. Mr. Shahid Hussain Asad Member IR Policy and Mr. Nadeem Dar Member Facilitation FBR were also present at the occasion. Haroon Akhtar Khan said traders are doing legitimate business and they should come into the formal sector. He said that government is facing huge difference of Rs.1700 billion between revenue and expenditure and it is ready to give more incentives in consultatio...

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa Monday said 0.6 percent withholding tax on banking transactions of non-filers would be restored from October 1, 2015 under Income Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 and an incentive package is being finalised for traders to encourage documentation and voluntary tax compliance. On the conclusion of the Public Accounts Committee meeting at the Parliament House here on Monday, Tariq Bajwa told Business Recorder that Income Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 is very clear on the withholding tax rate on banking transactions of non-filers. Under the Ordinance, the rate was reduced from 0.6 percent to 0.3 percent w.e.f. July 11, 2015. This reduced rate will remain effective till September 30, 2015. The FBR will start collecting 0.6 percent on banking instruments of non-filers from October 1, 2015. Responding to a query, FBR Chairman said that the government is finalising an incentive package for the traders'' co...

KARACHI:  ARY Digital Network CEO Salman Iqbal on Tuesday announced the company’s takeover of now defunct Bol TV’s management, Express News reported. Vowing to get the channel on cable, the founder of ARY group said the media group would launch the channel within three weeks. Terming the move to take over Bol as second biggest revolution in the media industry in Pakistan after the announcement of the launch of channel, Iqbal said the basic aim of the move was to provide job security to the thousands of workers who lost their jobs when Bol TV was not allowed to launch due to its link with Axact. “We cannot let thousands of people stay unemployed,” he added. Addressing the gathering at Bol TV studio, he said, “We are not here to take down anyone.” Iqbal added that their first priority will be to clear Bol TV’s dues. He further said that there is no agenda behind take over of Bol. Earlier in May, the information and broadcasting ministry had asked the cou...

A news item has been published in some of the newspapers on 16th August, 2015, stating that Mr. Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue has asked non-filers to file their tax return by February 28, 2016 and get exemption from Withholding tax deduction on their bank instruments. It is hereby clarified that Mr. Haroon Akhtar Khan along with Mr. Shahid Hussain Asad, Senior Member (Inland Revenue Policy) and Mr. Nadeem Dar, Member Facilitation and Taxpayer Education (FATE) and Mr. Zubair Tufail from Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry met representatives of the traders at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry on 12th August, 2015, to discuss reservations of traders on new Withholding tax on bank instruments of “non-filers”. Different proposals were raised by the traders’ representatives. The non-filers were advised by Mr. Haroon Akhtar Khan to file their Income Tax Returns and attain the status of “filer” and t...

CNG stations  will stay shut for three days in Sind for every week, a representative for the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said. As indicated by the representative the CNG stations will stay shut on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The stations will be closed from 8:00AM in the morning on the aforementioned days for 24 hours.

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $1663.61 million in the month of July FY16, showing a growth of 0.86% compared with $1649.39 million received during the same period in the preceding year. According to statement issued here by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday, the country wise details for the month of July 2015 show that inflows from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and EU countries amounted to $474.42 million, $367.51 million, $255.32 million, $232.33 million, $197.86 million and $32.5 million respectively compared with the inflow of US $454.47 million, $352.89 million, $257.08 million, $247.96 million, $179.76 million and $44.32 million respectively in July 2014. Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during July 2015 amounted to US $103.67 million together as against $112.91 million received in July 2014.- APP

Samina Fazil, founder President of Islamabad Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI), on Sunday said that withholding tax on bank transaction has been imposed without proper groundwork, which has added to the problems of masses and business community. Income must be taxed but the newly-introduced model of taxation is faulty at best which will not benefit the government but the corrupt in the FBR, she said while speaking to the businesswomen. She said that lack of trust between taxpayers and tax collectors has kept the number of taxpayers dismally low, which has transformed nuclear Pakistan into a beggar. "FBR should not milk all the customers of banks but establish a separate database of taxpayers and give its access to banks so that they are not bothered. WHT should not be deducted from taxpayers, as it will stuck their money for one year while they will have to bribe FBR officials to get refunds, which is a routine practice," she added. Sami...

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has prepared income tax annual return form for Tax Year 2015 by incorporating necessary legal changes and suggestions of business community and of professional bodies. The new income tax returns for all taxpayers are uploaded on FBR’s website www.fbr.gov.pk. Taxpayers are to use these returns for filing their annual income tax returns due by August 31 for salaried persons and by September 30 for companies closing their accounts by December 31, 2014 and all other non-salaried individuals and Associations of Persons (AoPs). - customstoday.com.pk Downloadable Return Forms for Tax Year 2015 Sr # Title 1 Individual Paper Income Tax Ret...

ISLAMABAD: Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to start campaign against non-taxpayers of electronics dealers . According to sources, Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue has received information that most of the electronic dealers are involved in tax evasion, these dealers has large scales of electronic businesses but they submit their tax returns with wrong information of their income and sales. Sources further added that Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue these dealers used several methods to save them from submitting sales tax returns as most of electronic dealers are out of tax net.  Now FBR are sending them notices to clear their outstanding dues at the earliest to avoid any strict action in future. Source:customstoday.com.pk

Pakistani cricket superstar Shahid Afridi has made it to the list of top 20 most charitable athletes of the year, according to an international survey conducted by DoSomething.org The captain of Pakistan’s Twenty20 team had established the Shahid Afridi Foundation (SAF) last year to improve lives of underprivileged in the country. Afridi was placed at number 20 in the list of world’s top philanthropist athletes including footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, wrestler John Cena, tennis star Serena Williams, footballer Neymar Jr and tennis player Maria Sharapova. At the launch of his charity foundation in March 2014, Afridi said it will focus on mothers and internal refugees. The foundation has also set up a 16-bed maternity hospital in remote Tangi Banda village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The $160,000 hospital named after Afridi's father Fazlur Rehman was paid for by the star, who said he had been inspired by former captain Imran Khan, who runs a cancer hospital in Lah...

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced August 31 as last date for salaried persons and September 30 for non salaried persons to file their tax returns. The deadlines for filing the tax returns is for all existing and new tax filers an official of FBR told APP here on Tuesday. He said the FBR was committed to broadening the tax net for strengthening of the national economy and to enhance tax to GDP ratio. The official said that FBR had collected Rs 140 billion during first month of current fiscal year 2015-16. He said the amount is six percent extra as compared to the previous year as the FBR collected Rs 133 billion in July last year. The performance of FBR is very encouraging in the start of current fiscal year and figures shows six per cent increase in collection of taxes he added. He said that FBR was aiming to issue the notices to those non compliant persons who have not returned their tax files. He said that the FBR s administrative reform...

KARACHI: In a bid to increase the number of income tax returns, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made mandatory for all salaried persons having taxable income to file income tax returns electronically from Tax Year 2015. Through SRO 791(I)/2015 issued on Tuesday, the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 has been amended to make it mandatory for all individuals earning taxable income to file tax return electronically for the tax year 2015, for which the last date is August 31, 2015. Tax experts strongly criticised the move. They said salaried individuals were a soft target, and by forcing salaried persons for filing returns the tax authorities were trying to achieve their desired number. Earlier, the law required a person earning Rs500,000 per year to file tax return electronically. While salaried persons under threshold for income tax payment, ie Rs400,000 were also required to file returns, but it was not mandatory through e-filing. Muhammad Zubair, President, Kar...

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the date of submission of Sales Tax/Federal Excise return up to 21st August 2015 for the tax period July, 2015 for all registered persons.  The extension has been granted under section 74 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 and Section 43 of the Federal Excise Act, 2005. However, it is clarified that there will be no change in the date of payment of Sales Tax & FED dues for July 2015, which already stands extended to 17th August, 2015 by virtue of Section 10 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has prepared Income Tax annual return Form for Tax Year 2015 by incorporating necessary legal changes and suggestions of business community and of professional bodies. The new Income Tax returns for all taxpayers are uploaded on FBR’s website www.fbr.gov.pk. Taxpayers are to use these returns for filing their annual Income Tax returns due by 31st August for salaried persons and by 30th September for companies closing their accounts by 31/12/2014 and all other non-salaried individuals and Associations of Persons (AoPs). - Aug 15, 2015

1. What is e-Filing? This is a facility provided to the taxpayers to file income tax returns/statements through internet. 2. What is e-Service? E-Service is simply a way to serve your documents using internet and taxes online system. It saves time and, quite often, a significant amount of money over traditional methods. More information about eService. 3. What is the fee for e-Filing? There’s no fee of e-Filing. 4. What are the benefits of e-Filing? E-Filing is fast, easy and safe. Convenient and accessible - Files relating tax can be accessed anytime from anywhere. No more standing in line to file your documents. 24 hours a day,7 days a week to file your documents. 5. What notification will I receive on my e-Filings? After online submission your statements, you will receive an immediate acknowledgement. This comprises the date of submission and reference quote number. 6. What about customer support? e-FBR provides unlimited toll-free technical support by ph...