Muhammad Aurangzeb to Lead Key Panel Amid Government Criticism

ISLAMABAD – Amid the criticism faced by the government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reconstituted the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and installed Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb as its chairman.

A notification issued on March 23 [Saturday] says Aurangzeb being the finance minister will lead the panel with the four other ministers – economic affairs, commerce, power, petroleum, and planning, development and special initiatives – would also be its members.

Meanwhile, there are also 18 co-opted ECC members including the Planning Commission deputy chairman, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and the Board of Investment chairman.

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Earlier on Friday, the prime minister had constituted seven committees and was to head the ECC and the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE).

Shabbar Zaidi says imposing tax on retailers only way-out

Former chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi has said that there is no way-out except imposing tax on retailers.

Talking in ARY News show ‘Sawal Yeh Hai’ Shabbar Zaidi said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has to put his political repute at stake for imposing tax on retailers.

“Every government has failed to impose tax on retailers. They down shutters when tax imposes over them, which results in losses,” former chief of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said.

It is to be mentioned here that the FBR has launched a compulsory tax registration scheme focusing retailers and wholesalers in major cities of Pakistan.

The scheme has been launched in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Peshawar and will come into effect from April 1, as per an FBR notification.

However, traders will make their first tax payments on July 15, said the notification.

The tax collector body of Pakistan gave a month, with the last date on April 30, to traders and wholesalers to get registered.

The scheme will apply to the traders and shopkeepers operating through a fixed place of business including a shop, store, warehouse, office or similar physical place.

The FBR will launch a Tajir Dost application to create a database of traders and shopkeepers for registration and advance income tax payment.

As per the scheme, traders are bound to pay monthly advance tax on the 15th of each month.

They will have to pay a minimum of Rs1,200 per annum income tax even if their income is below the income tax threshold.

Meanwhile, the FBR announced a 25% tax incentive for traders who pay their full tax in advance before the due date of every month.