Imran seeks early hearing of £190m case appeal
Earlier this year, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were convicted in the £190 million case. Imran Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Bushra Bibi received a seven-year jail term. Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the order in a courtroom inside Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail. In addition to the prison sentences, the court imposed fines of Rs1 million on Imran and Rs500,000 on Bushra.
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Business Recorder
8 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Arrests for tax frauds: FPCCI urges govt to defer FBR's new powers
ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI), Friday, asked the government to defer new powers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials to arrest those involved in tax frauds. They also warned the FBR for taking 'extreme steps' if the government did not fulfil their demands. Responding to this, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Inland Revenue (Operations) Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar assured the business community that the arrest powers under Section 37A of the Sales Tax Act would only be used against those involved in fake/flying invoices and causing multi-billion-rupee losses to the national exchequer. 'There are 60,000 sales tax filers out of a total of 200,000 registered entities. There is no intention to arrest manufacturers or traders through this law of the land,' FBR's Member Operation Dr Hamid AteeqSarwar assured the FPCCI forum here in the federal capital on Friday. The representatives of the FPCCI from across the country were present on the occasion including Ghee/Cooking oil, Flour Mills Association, President Islamabad Chamber, Rawalpindi, online participants from Karachi Chamber, Lahore Chamber, small traders representative Ajmal Baloch, real estate agents and many others. During the discussion between the FBR and the business community, the FPCCI leadership warned to observe strike on July 19 all over the country but after getting assurance from the tax machinery that the powers of the FBR would not be abused, they announced that the FPCCI would not go for any strike on July 19, 2025. President Real Estate Federation Pakistan Sardar Tahir stated that the stamp duty was increased in Islamabad from 1 to 3 per cent by the chairman CDA unilaterally so the benefits of reduction in tax rate for buyer of property by 1.5 per cent had evaporated in the air with just one step. The Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiyani stated that this issue would be conveyed to Minister for Finance and would be taken up with Minister for Interior to resolve it related to CDA. Atif Ikram Sheikh, president FPCCI in his address asked the government to defer 37A under which the FBR possessed powers of arrest on tax frauds, otherwise, they would go for extreme steps. However, the Minister of State argued that the Finance Act 2025 was approved by the Parliament and offered the businessmen that he would be ready to hold meeting with them by every month to avoid misuse of power. This act of the parliament cannot be done away with, however, abuse of power will not be allowed, he added. He said that the power to arrest would be used against who plunged into Rs100 billion through fake and flying invoices in case of sales tax. In his address, Hamid Ateeq Sarwar stated that the powers to arrest would not be used against manufacturers or traders but it would be used against fake/flying invoices. He said that there was no need of apprehension in the ongoing fiscal year for payment of Rs200,000 through banking channel under 21- S of the Income Tax because the return filers would have to show in their returns in the next fiscal year 2026-27 and would have to give response if selected in audit case. Speaking at a meeting organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani said the government has achieved economic stability. Inflation has decreased from 38 per cent to single digits, with the inflation rate for the last fiscal year recorded at 4.5 per cent, providing significant relief to the public. He highlighted that the policy rate has been reduced from 22 per cent to 11 per cent, offering relief to the business community. These economic achievements, he noted, seemed impossible when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took office amidst 'default-like conditions'. Minister Kayani stated that the federal budget, while adhering to the IMF programme, has provided relief to the people. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is focused on fixing the country's economic fundamentals through privatisation, right-sizing, economic reforms, and controlling deficits. Simultaneously, the prime minister is engaging in continuous consultations with industrialists, economists, and stakeholders to transform economic stability into sustainable economic growth. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
8 hours ago
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Sindh govt's swift response to the Lyari tragedy
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Express Tribune
9 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Businessmen slam punitive laws
Listen to article Pakistan's leading business chambers on Friday asked the government to immediately suspend the laws that authorise the arrest of taxpayers on allegations of fraud and penalise the use of cash for over Rs200,000 worth of business transactions or else they will begin an agitation campaign. The demands were made from the platform of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) in the presence of Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani and members of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb did not attend the FPCCI meeting, where representatives of almost all the chambers and associations were present. The business community wants the immediate withdrawal of the FBR's authority to arrest people on allegations of fraud, powers to add back 50% of cash expenditure above Rs200,000 in income and depute taxmen in factories, said FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh. Sheikh demanded that the FBR's discretion to determine input adjustment and the enforcement of electronic invoicing should also be suspended. The government has taken these measures to minimise the use of cash in the economy and to crack down on tax fraud. "A thief will be called a thief but we will ensure that the law is not wrongly applied," said Minister of State Bilal Kayani while responding to demands from the business community. He stressed that those powers could not be suspended until the law was amended by parliament. "We may not agree with everything that the business community has demanded but discussions will continue in the coming days," said Kayani while indicating the government's resolve to withstand the pressure from the traders and business leaders. The easiest thing was that the government should have left the arrest powers in the hands of assistant commissioners but it introduced safeguards in it, said the minister of state. He added that the explanatory memorandum on budget would be issued on coming Tuesday, which should address some of their concerns. The FPCCI president said that the business community wanted to resolve the issue through negotiations but other participants of the meeting threatened to go on strike from July 19 if those powers were not withdrawn. Kayani said that there were many businesses that did formal transactions but there were others that dealt in cash and those should not be rewarded. According to new Section 21S and Q of the Income Tax Ordinance, 50% of the expenditure claimed in respect of sales, where the taxpayer received payment exceeding Rs200,000 otherwise than through a banking channel or digital means against a single invoice containing one or more than one transactions of supply of goods or provisions of services will be treated as income. Section 21(q) states that 10% of the claimed expenditure attributable to purchases made from persons who are not National Tax Number (NTN) holders shall be disallowed. These steps are taken to discourage the use of cash in business transactions. "People are extremely angry and it is getting difficult for us to control them," warned FPCCI Patron-in-Chief SM Tanveer. He said that the economy was passing through a difficult phase for the past two years and the government had chosen to harass taxpayers in the middle of this. "We do not want a strike on July 19 but the message from the government is that the FBR is the new NAB," said Sohail Altaf, a leading business leader from Rawalpindi. He warned that if the agitation began, it would be difficult for the government to reverse the negative perception. Saqib Fayyaz Chohan, another business leader, said that if the FBR did not withdraw the arrest powers and continued the implementation of e-invoicing, it would be difficult for them to move along. FBR Member Operations Hamid Ateeq Sarwar explained that those powers were only meant to be used against the people involved in tax fraud through fake sales tax invoices. He said that the adding-back income clause would also not impact return filing for tax year 2025 and any such question would be asked next year. Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association Chairman Sheikh Omar Rehan said that the FBR had deputed its staff in ghee factories that paid taxes at the import stage, urging them to withdraw the officers immediately. Sardar Tahir Iqbal, a representative of the real estate sector, said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman violated the prime minister's instructions and increased transfer fee charges from Rs250 per yard to 3% of the property value. He said that this single increase denied the benefit of reduction in withholding tax rates for the buyers of properties. Ajmal Baloch, who claimed that he had support of 12.5 million traders, threatened to go on strike if the powers to arrest and add-back income were not withdrawn immediately.
