Latest news with #Rs56
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Time of India
Nashik agri officer dies by suicide after Rs56 lakh cyber fraud
Nashik: The cyber police have registered a case of abetment to suicide and cheating against unidentified cyber criminals following the death of a 40-year-old agriculture officer Prashant Patil. Patil, a resident of Nashik and posted in Palghar, ended his life on June 6 after being defrauded of Rs56 lakh. According to inspector Subhash Dhawale of the cyber police station, Patil consumed a poisonous substance at his Nashik residence around 1am on June 5. He was rushed to a private hospital, but died the following day during treatment. The Ambad police had initially registered a case of accidental death. Patil's wife subsequently filed a complaint with the cyber police, stating that her husband was cheated of Rs56 lakh by online conmen. The cyber police were in the process of registering a First Information Report (FIR) based on her complaint when Patil committed suicide. According to the police, Patil had received a friend request from a woman on a social media platform. After he accepted the request, the woman told him to buy Hapco oil that her firm would export. On the advice of the woman, Patil transferred money to the bank account for the oil which he never received. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dukung Orang Terkasih Menghadapi Limfoma: Mulai Di Sini Limfoma Baca Undo "The woman then told Patil that the company concerned did not take small orders and he should make a bulk purchase. When Patil told her that did not have sufficient money, the woman told him that she would send him a parcel containing foreign currency and other articles," a police officer said. "The woman on the pretext of sending the parcel took Rs56 lakh from him from Dec 2022 until two months ago. Eventually, Patil neither received the parcel nor did the woman return the money," the officer added. Prashant had arranged for the money by selling jewellery and borrowing from friends. When he realised that the parcel was not coming and he would not be getting his money back, he ended his life. The cyber police on Thursday registered an FIR for offences punishable under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanahita (BNS) for cheating, abetment of suicide, and criminal conspiracy, apart from other sections of the IT Act.
Express Tribune
05-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Sweetener being sold at Rs190/kg, admits govt
Listen to article The government on Friday admitted that sugar prices have mounted up to "nearly Rs190 per kilogram in most cities" of the country and it has now decided to import 500,000 metric tons of sugar to bridge the shortfall. The admission about the rising prices was made by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives in a statement, which it issued after a meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC). Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, chaired the meeting to review the inflationary trends and pricing mechanism across the country. "Sugar prices have surged, reaching nearly Rs190 per kilogram in most cities", according to the press statement. According to a separate inflation bulletin that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released on Friday, the maximum prices of sugar increased to Rs196 per kilogram in the country. The sugar price surge is caused by the government's decision to export 765,000 metric tons of sugar on the basis of a claim that the country had surplus stocks. Before the export of sugar, the prices were Rs140 per kg, which went up by Rs56 per kg or 40% higher. The Planning Ministry stated that the country has witnessed a decline in sugar production this year, with output falling to 5.8 million tons from 6.8 million tons. In response, the Ministry of Food has decided to import 500,000 tons of sugar to stabilize the market, it added. The meeting was informed that prices of several essential items, including LPG, bananas, mustard oil, chickpeas, and moong dal, have decreased. During the meeting, the Chief Statistician presented key data indicating that the inflation rate for the fiscal year 2024-25 stood at 4.5%, significantly down from 23.4% recorded during the previous year. Minister Ahsan Iqbal highlighted this as the lowest inflation rate in the past nine years, reflecting the government's effective policy interventions and improved supply-side management. In urban areas, food inflation was recorded at 4.2%, compared to 6.2% last year. However, supply chain disruptions due to highway closures in Sindh were noted as a contributing factor in localized price fluctuations. Minister Ahsan Iqbal emphasized the importance of effective monitoring through the Price Scorecard system. He highlighted during the meeting that the Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accessed the system 114 times, while Sindh accessed it only 10 times, Punjab 6 times, and Balochistan did not log in at all. Among Deputy Commissioners, Islamabad logged in 27 times, Karachi 6 times, and Quetta 4 times. The Minister expressed concern over the underutilization of the Price Scorecard by provincial administrations, stated the Planning Ministry. To improve monitoring, the Minister directed the PBS to provide login reports to chief secretaries on a monthly basis. He further directed all deputy commissioners to compare wholesale and retail prices regularly and take corrective action where necessary. Provincial governments were urged to actively supervise and support this process. In the last meeting, the Planning Minister had directed that the Competition Commission of Pakistan would coordinate with the food ministry and provincial governments to determine fair and reasonable profit margins between wholesale & retail trade. It has been decided that the CCP will complete this task in the next three weeks and share the agreed profit margin range for vegetables, fruits & grocery items with NPMC in the next meeting. However, the decision remained unimplemented. The CCP has informed that any form of collective price-setting mechanism including determining or endorsing a "fair and reasonable profit margins" is fundamentally inconsistent with the Commission's legal and institutional role. It had also been decided last time that the provincial governments will strengthen their price monitoring mechanisms. A delegation of experts from PBS had visited all provinces and met the provincial stakeholders for consultations and briefing on the price monitoring system. During the meetings, de-tailed presentations were made on usage of DSSI as a data providing tool for price monitoring. The provincial governments have also been asked again to strengthen the price monitoring system by enhancing use of the Decision Support System for Inflation (DSSI) in their jurisdiction.
Express Tribune
04-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Salaried class paid Rs555b in FY24
Listen to article Salaried individuals have paid a staggering Rs555 billion in income tax in the last fiscal year, which were Rs188 billion more than the preceding year and also 100% more than the combined taxes paid by retailers and real estate sector. The record-high contributions by people, who pay income tax on the gross salaries without having the luxury to adjust their expenses, substantially reduced the home-take salaries of a larger segment of society. According to provisional figures compiled by the Federal Board of Revenue, the salaried persons paid Rs555 billion in income tax during the fiscal year 2024-25. The unwilling contributions were 51% or Rs188 billion more than the taxes collected from the salaried persons in the preceding fiscal year. In the fiscal year 2023-24, the government had collected Rs367 billion from the salaried persons. The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had phenomenally increased the tax burden of the salaried class and claimed it would generate only Rs75 billion in additional income taxes. The highest ever contributions by the salaried persons in a single year showed how the voiceless people have been discriminated against the powerful sectors of the country. Last month, the government marginally reduced the tax burden of the people earning up to Rs3.2 million annually, which it said would give them a benefit of Rs56 billion. This nominal benefit of Rs56 billion compared to the current contributions is like a drop in the bucket, which would not address the fiscal woes of the salaried individuals. Despite putting enormous burden on the salaried class, the FBR missed its annual collection target by a margin of around Rs1.2 trillion. The details showed that non-corporate sector employees paid Rs236.5 billion income tax in the last fiscal year, which is higher by Rs67 billion or 40%. Corporate sector employees paid Rs165 billion in income tax, also higher by Rs54.6 billion or 49%. Employees of the provincial governments paid Rs99.5 billion in taxes, which was up by Rs49 billion or 98%. The federal government employees paid Rs54.2 billion, higher by Rs17 billion or 45%. Total income tax payments during the last fiscal year were Rs5.8 trillion and the salaried class paid Rs1 out of every Rs10 collected from the entire country under the head of income tax. In contrast to Rs555 billion paid by the salaried persons, the retailers, mostly unregistered, have contributed only Rs38 billion on account of withholding income tax on their purchases. The amount of tax that traders paid under section 236-H was 1,360% less than taxes paid by salaried persons. Besides, wholesalers and distributors also paid Rs25 billion withholding tax in the last fiscal year and almost half of them were unregistered with the FBR, said the sources. PM Sharif could not live up to his promise of collecting due taxes from the retailers. The Tajir Dost scheme failed to yield desired results and the government has not announced any new measure in the budget to bring the retailers in the tax net. Its biggest enforcement measure to ban the economic transactions by ineligible persons has become effectively useless after the government exempted more than 90% transactions from the purview of the new law. The government has allowed the ineligible persons, those having not enough declared resources, to buy up to Rs7 million worth of a car, Rs50 million worth plot and Rs100 million commercial property. In the budget, the government had imposed 2.5% withholding tax on traders, in the hope that this would force them to come into the tax system. Though the increase in the rate did help collect Rs21 billion more from the traders, the intended objective could not be achieved. The traders passed on the cost of the additional tax to the end consumers. In the last budget, the government had also substantially increased the tax burden of the real estate sector by increasing the rates for the non-filers and also introducing a new category of late filers in the budget. As a result, during the last fiscal year, the government collected Rs237 billion on sales and purchase of properties. This helped increase collection by 19% compared to the previous fiscal year but it was still below the mark. The combined taxes paid by both retailers and the real estate sector were 100% less than the total contributions by the salaried persons. On the sale of properties, the government collected Rs119 billion on account of withholding taxes, which were one-fourth more than the preceding fiscal year. On the purchases of the plots, the government collected another Rs118 billion, also higher by 14%. In the new budget, the government has abolished the federal excise duty on the real estate sector. The net taxes on the sales and purchases remained unchanged, although the government shifted higher burden towards the sellers by increasing their withholding tax rates.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Private firm manager falls prey to forex con
Pune: A 50-year-old manager at a private company fell victim to an online forex trading fraud, losing Rs56 lakh between March and May. The cyber crooks transferred the funds to various bank accounts. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The victim had filed an online complaint, and the Pune cyber police recently registered a case. According to a Pune cyber police officer, the fraudsters initially contacted the complainant via a mobile messenger app. They enticed him with information about a forex trading platform, promising substantial profits in a short period. The victim, convinced by their claims, registered on the platform using a provided link. He began investing money, and the platform deceptively showed his funds being converted into dollars. The officer added that the victim continued to transfer money to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. To extract even more funds, the scammers informed him he had been added to a "VIP group" on the mobile messaging application. "In May, the victim saw that he had made a profit of around 95,000 US dollars. He tried to withdraw his money, but his request was denied. When he inquired, the conmen asked him to pay 30% of the amount as tax. His calls went unanswered when he asked them to deduct the tax from the profits. This is when he realised that he had been cheated and he approached the police," the officer said. TNN
Express Tribune
14-06-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Salaried class to pay Rs535b despite minor relief
Listen to article A National Assembly panel on Friday termed a nominal reduction in the salaried class income tax rates a "joke", as discussions revealed that the salaried individuals would still pay around Rs535 billion in next fiscal year due to a paltry relief of Rs56 billion. According to details shared by Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Rashid Langrial with the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, 981,051 individuals would get a direct benefit of 2% to 4% reduction in their tax rates. This translated into Rs56 billion in relief against the estimated Rs540 billion income tax collection in this fiscal year. However, due to the proposed 10% increase in salaries and nominal economic growth, the FBR has estimated again receiving over Rs535 billion from the salaried class in the next fiscal year, according to the tax authorities. "The proposed reduction in the income tax rates is a joke with the salaried persons," remarked Syed Naveed Qamar, chairman of the standing committee and former finance minister. The FBR chairman agreed that the reduction was lower than desired but repeated that the government did not have much fiscal space to give any major relief. In the last budget, the government disproportionately increased the salaried class burden, which pushed their contributions from Rs368 billion of the previous year to around Rs540 billion this year. From Prime Minister to the Finance Minister everyone had acknowledged the undue burden put on the salaried persons but they did very little. However, the height of insensitivity was that despite agreeing with the IMF to reduce the income tax rate on up to Rs1.2 million annual incomes from 5% to 1%, the federal cabinet set the rate at 2.5% to pay higher salaries to the federal government employees. In the slab of up to Rs1.2 million annual earnings, there are 431,206 individuals who have been forced to pay 1.5% income tax over and above the threshold agreed with the IMF to pay higher salaries to the government employees. To a question, the newly appointed Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani said that due to the federal cabinet's decision to increase the proposed salaries from 6% to 10%, the income tax rates were also increased. However, Bilal remarked that the standing committee may suggest reducing the proposed increase in salaries. Hardly one million individuals will get direct benefit of Rs56 billion reductions. Out of the five slabs, the government reduced the rates for the first three slabs while leaving it unchanged for the last two slabs of 30% and 35% income tax rates. About 387,345 individuals earning up to Rs2.2 million annually have been offered a 4% reduction in their income tax rates compared to the current 15% rate. Another 162,000 persons earning up to Rs3.2 million would receive a mere 2% reduction in the rates. Langrial said that individuals falling in the two higher slabs of 30% and 35% will also get indirect benefit of reduction in the lower slab rates due to reduction in their effective income tax rates. According to the presentation, there are about 235,391 individuals falling in these two higher slabs. The government also marginally reduced the income tax surcharge rate from 10% to 9% due to lack of fiscal space. Langrial said that the super tax rate for the medium sized firms is reduced by half percentage, admitting it was just aimed at giving signals rather than any relief. The estimated benefit is mere Rs2 billion. The FBR chairman finally admitted that imposing 3% federal excise duty on immovable property in the last fiscal year was a "theoretical mistake and unjust". The government has proposed to abolish the duty in the budget. But those who proposed it and defended it till recently were still sitting in the same room with him. In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that is also discussing the budget, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb backed a proposal to increase the retirement age of the federal government employees. Senator Farooq H Naek advocated raising the retirement age of bureaucrats to save pension costs and said that a bureaucrat is fit and experienced at 60; instead of benefiting from experience, we retire them prematurely. Senator Anusha Rahman pointed out that retired officers instantly join semi-government institutions and increasing the retirement age makes practical sense. The Finance Minister said that in the HBL the retirement age was 65 years and after the budget, he will evaluate this proposal seriously. The finance minister made a surprising claim that the government has not imposed any new tax in the budget. However, contrary to the Finance Minister's claim that the government has slapped 5% new income tax on pensioners, Rs2.5 per liter carbon levy on petroleum products and car engine levy. The finance minister said that the government proposed new tax measures worth Rs312 billion through compliance and enforcement. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance also showed its dissatisfaction over the government's budget proposal to slap taxes on the digital economy, particularly cash on delivery. "Our youth is already angry with us and you have put more burden on them", said Syed Naveed Qamar. The Member Policy FBR Dr Najeeb Ahmad claimed that the 2% withholding tax on cash on delivery will be part of the cost of the product ordered online a stance that does not appear true. To which Naveed Qamar said that if the claim was true, the committee would not object to the proposal. The committee members were of the view that the 2% cost would be paid by the purchaser, not by the seller. The standing committee also asked the FBR to increase the cash withdrawal limit for collecting 0.8% tax from Rs50,000 to above Rs75,000. The Chairman FBR promised to look into the proposal. The committee also suggested that instead of charging an increased 20% income tax on interest earned on banking deposits, the FBR should introduce a new slab to charge 15% rate from the pensioners and small-income earners. The FBR did not oppose the proposal.
