ISLAMABAD: Under the recommendations of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Finance Ministry is carrying out a full-fledged review of the existing concessionary regimes under various SROs.
“The entire concessionary regime is being reviewed by a high powered committee,”sources at FBR told Customs Today.
The source said that the committee recommended a plan for elimination of concessionary SROs in three phases and two out of three phases had been completed. A majority of SROs were issued under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, Sales Tax Act, 1990 and Federal Excise Act, 2005 and Customs Act 1969.
“In bid to maintain a policy of transparency, FBR withdrew its surrendered powers for the issuance of SROs under Finance Act 2015” the source added. Therefore, the source said that Finance Ministry was alone authorized to issue SROs or to grant exemption subject to approval of ECC of the Cabinet in exceptional circumstances.
“These exceptional circumstance include national security, natural disasters, national food security in emergency situation, protection of national economic interest in situation arising out of abnormal fluctuation in international commodity prices, removal of anomaly in taxes, development of backward areas and implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements” the source maintained.
The source quoted an example that in the light of an SRO, Motor Registration Authority in Swat and other parts of PATA register only the duty paid vehicles and local administration and police have devised a temporary mechanism for registration of the Non-Customs Paid (NCP) for the registration of non-duty paid vehicles in PATA. Likewise, FATA Secretariat, Peshawar in the back drop of National Action Plan, has devised a local mechanism for registration of non-custom paid vehicles in the area.
As per provisions of SRO, the source said that non-duty paid vehicles brought into Pakistan in violation of law and the prevailing Import Policy Order couldn’t be registered with any Motor Registration Authority unless the same were duty paid or subjected to legal formalities under the prevailing law/rules.
