Government Plan to bring affluent in tax net

Government Plan to bring affluent in tax net- Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has finalised a comprehensive plan to bring affluent people in the tax net in a countrywide tax broadening drive to be launched from July 1, a tax official told Dawn.

The proposed target for bringing rich people in the tax net for the next fiscal year is 500,000 persons, who would be traced on the basis of financial transactions and data collected from NADRA.

Income tax return filers fell to less than 800,000 in tax year 2012, showing that less than 0.5pc of the population files tax returns in the country of 180 million.

“We will start work on broadening of tax base from July 1,” a senior tax official told Dawn. NADRA has already provided data of 140,000 potential people, who are living in posh areas, having multiple banks accounts, and frequently make foreign visits, but they do not figure on the tax roll.

An official statement of the FBR issued on Wednesday said the most important step in this direction has been the decision to use the National Data Warehouse (NDW) for identification of new taxpayers who can be brought into the tax net.

The NDW would be used in various ways, including its usage for acquisition of data through profiling loading and data mining and usage.

In Pakistan, the National Data Warehouse was only owned and maintained by NADRA. But the statement by FBR has created confusion which NDW would be used for tracing taxpayers because no such thing exists at the FBR.

An information expert says that there is a huge difference in database and national data warehouse. He said FBR can only have a database based on a few machines.

FBR officials contacted were not available for comments to clarify this issue.

According to the FBR statement, the respective RTOs would be sent details and electronic profiles of these potential taxpayers so that notifications are issued by the tax commissioners concerned.

All monitoring and control of the process would be automated and system based.

The FBR has also upgraded its call centre facility for facilitation of taxpayers. Linkages with third-party sources, including provincial revenue authorities, have also been established for effective implementation and monitoring.

To strengthen the enforcement mechanism for the broadening plan, various decisions have been made by the FBR which include initiation of statutory proceedings against persons who failed to respond to outreach notifications through issuance of notices under section 114 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

In case of taxpayer’s persistence on non-compliance, provisional assessment would be finalised and the taxpayer would still have the option to file a return accompanied by a wealth statement and reconciliation of wealth statement within the period of 60 days whereby provisional assessment order would be automatically vitiated.

If the taxpayer did not file the return and required documents within 60 days, the tax liability raised as per the provisional assessment order would become final and would be recoverable and, if necessary, penal and prosecution proceedings, which may culminate in imprisonment and imposition of fine, would also be initiated in selected cases for creating a credible deterrence.

Read More

On Musharraf case, govt acting on Supreme Court directions

On Musharraf case, govt acting on Supreme Court directions-  Interior Minister, Ch. Nisar Ali Khan Thursday clarifing government’s stance on high treason case against Musharraf said no double standards were adopted and it was following only Supreme Court’s instructions in this regard. Responding to various questions raised by the opposition members in the  parliament here, the Interior Minister said that the government did only what the Supreme Court of Pakistan had directed it to do. He said the Supreme Court had asked the government to give its opinion  only over a case against Pervez Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution and detaining judges of the higher judiciary after imposing emergency on November 3, 2007.”There was no question of abrogating the Constitution from 12 October 1990 or from 1956 or so on,” he added.

He was of the view that if anybody wanted to open the high treason cases from beginning, they have no objection.

He opined 99.9 percent of the army had nothing to do with the imposition of Martial Laws, rather a few people were involved in such practices, damaging the image of the whole army.

The interior minister made it clear: “We will not accept any insult against Pakistan army,” saying Pak army jawans have been giving huge sacrifices for the nation, so they are ‘the bravest of the brave’.

He said that a person who has been brought to justice now may not be seen as general or military man, but an offender. “Linking the activities of an individual with the whole institution is unjustified,” he remarked.

He criticized the opposition for politicising the issue.

He informed the house that government has constituted a four-member  committee of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the high treason issue.On the issues of Karachi violence, the interior minister said the federal government’s help was always available to provincial government in maintaining peace and it was ready to take onboard all the political parties to resolve the issue.

The political parties of Sindh should develop consensus among themselves and the provincial government should also come with clear stance on the issue,he said.

The minister  urged the provincial government to call a special session to debate on the current situation of Karachi and come with consensus policy, which would be supported by the federal government.

Nisar said that he would visit Karachi next month and hold meetings with Governor Sindh, Chief Minister and political parties to help find solution to the issues available within the ambit of constitution.

He made it clear that federral government will not interfere in the matters of the provincial government.

The Interior Minister stressed the need to make a comprehensive and proactive policy to check militancy in the country and said federal government would call a meeting soon to discuss the security situation and come up with a joint strategy to drive the country out of security crisis.

He apprised the House that there was no national security policy on ground, so we have to prepare overhaul policy to tackle menace of terrorism and law and order situation.

In response to Swiss cases, the interior minister said that the Supreme Court (SC) has taken notice of the matter and government’s reply would be submitted according to the law.

He said that facts should not be mutilated and clarified that PML-N excused for including a section proposed by PPP in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) to ensure that both the parties would withdraw cases against each other after coming into power.

Read More

Gaga tops Forbes' Most Powerful Musicians list

Gaga tops Forbes' Most Powerful Musicians list- Pop star Lady Gaga has beaten Beyonce and Madonna to the title of World's Most Powerful Musician according to Forbes Magazine's 2013 list.

The 27-year-old came first in the annual ranking, which is determined by earnings, social media influence and press mentions, largely thanks to the star's 'Born This Way' world tour grossing a massive USD 168 million, despite it being cut short due to her hip injury.

The eccentric performer, who also ranked second on Forbes' Most Powerful Celebrities list, is a prolific social media user and communicates daily with her 38.5 million Twitter fans and 57.9 million Facebook fans, who she calls her 'Little Monsters'.

Beyonce ranked second on the list, with her current 'Mrs Carter World Tour' grossing USD 2 million per concert date, while Madonna came in at number three with her 'MDNA Tour' raking in over USD 305 million.

Taylor Swift was fourth thanks to the smash success of her new album 'Red', while rockers Bon Jovi, powered by their 'Because We Can' tour, came in at number five, and social media whizz Justin Bieber was sixth.

Coldplay were the only British artists to feature in the American-dominated Top 10, after their world tour made them USD 3 million per performance.

Read More

Latest PTI distributes mangoes from Zardari among poor

Latest PTI distributes mangoes from Zardari among poor- Wednesday was a hot but sweet day for the poor inhabitants of katchi abadi (slum locality) in G-7, as Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) distributed free mangoes worth thousands of rupees among them. The PTI’s Central Secretariat received 40 crates of mangoes for its Chairman Imran Khan from President Asif Ali Zardari. The party leadership pondered over the matter and it was decided that the fruit should be given to the slum dwellers. “It was practically a mouthwatering feast for the hundreds of poor, who live in the katchi abadi and many of them can hardly afford enjoying the fruit,” commented Rizwan Chaudhry of the PTI Media Centre.

Read More

Improvement in Indo-Pak ties will benefit Afghanistan

Improvement in Indo-Pak ties will benefit Afghanistan- Any improvement of ties between New Delhi and Islamabad will automatically improve the situation in Afghanistan, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador James Dobbins said today.

Dobbins, who arrived here to brief Indian officials on the proposed talks with Taliban as part of stabilising war- torn Afghanistan, also said that there is no prospect of any agreement with Taliban unless they decide on severing ties with all terror groups, including al-Qaeda.

'We certainly agree that there is no prospect of improvement in relationship with Taliban or any agreement with Taliban unless they assure terrorism is...Addressed,' the US diplomat said, adding that Taliban has to do much more before an agreement is reached.

'In an agreement, they need to improve on cessation of hostilities, respectfully attend the Constitution and go about severing of all ties with al-Qaeda and similar terrorist organisations,' Dobbins said.

'Any improvement in Indo-Pak ties will almost automatically improve the Afghanistan situation,' he said.

Dobbins added that he had gathered an impression during his two meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that 'improvement in relationship with India is very high on his (Sharifs) list of priority.'

The US ambassador, who met Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai yesterday, will meet his Indian counterpart S K Lambah today.

The visit comes a day after US Secretary of State John Kerrys three-day official visit for the India-US Strategic Dialogue.

During the dialogue, Kerry had assured India that its concerns over Taliban insurgents gaining legitimacy without severing their terror links will not be 'overlooked or undermined' during the talks with the Islamic fundamentalist group.

Read More

Deep inside Windows 8.1's hidden new features

Windows 8.1 preview now available: Here's what you need to know,  After months of teasing and torture, the Windows 8.1 Developer Preview is finally here, ready to deliver us from many of Windows 8’s glaring flaws. You’ve no doubt already heard about Windows 8.1’s biggest new features: The Start button is back, Bing owns the Search charm, the split-screen Snap feature is customizable, yada yada yada. You know the drill.

What hasn’t been talked about much are the subtler changes—the hidden secrets tucked away in the dark corners of Windows 8.1, whispering and waiting for a turn to shine rather than shouting their proverbial presence from the proverbial rooftops.

No, these gems aren’t as flashy as Windows 8’s newfound ability to sync apps and Internet Explorer 11 tabs across multiple devices, but they’re arguably just as (if not more) handy. And there’s no way you’ll find them unless you dig deep...or read this enlightening guide.  Let’s start with something basic, but far from obvious.

Yes, the Start button is back...but the Start menu isn’t. So you still need to swipe through a multiclick process involving the charm bar if you want to shut down your PC—if you don’t know about the Start button’s secret menu, that is.

Right-clicking the Start button that appears when you hover your mouse cursor in the lower-left corner of the screen brings up a bevy of powerful options, including quick links to deep stuff like Disk Management and Command Prompt tools.

Now, the menu itself isn’t new to Windows 8.1. What is new is the addition of a Shut Down option to said menu. Hovering over it for a second gives you options to shut down or restart your PC right then and there, no fiddling with hidden menus required.   The Taskbar Properties option is another old friend with a subtle new look—and a crucial one for desktop diehards. Did you hear that Windows 8.1 lets you boot directly to the desktop on start up? It does, but Microsoft clearly doesn’t really want you to do it, since the option is buried in this obscure corner of the OS.

Head to the desktop, right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and then open the brand-spankin’-new Navigation tab. There, you’ll find new options for disabling the uppermost hot corners. Those options are also available in the modern-style PC Settings, but many Start screen options can only be found here.

And how handy-dandy they are! Want to boot directly to the desktop or the All Apps screen? Here’s your chance, and the other selections are just as useful. (Show the desktop background on the Start screen? Yes While you’re busy taking advantage of all the hot resizable Snap size action in Windows 8.1, don’t forget that you can now have a single app open in multiple Snapped windows—something you couldn’t do in the original Windows 8 release.  SkyDrive takes on a much bigger role in Windows 8.1, driving Microsoft’s vision of a seamless, cloud-connected world even further.

In fact, SkyDrive is so vital an underpinning to Windows 8.1 that Microsoft dedicates an entire section to it in the modern-style PC Settings. A vast number of settings now sync and follow you from device to device by default—including modern apps, woohoo! But if you really want to live in the cloud, you’ll need to enable some options buried three or four levels down. 

Read More

Latest News Nelson Mandela's condition critical but 'stable'

Latest News Nelson Mandela's condition critical but 'stable'- Former South African leader Nelson Mandela is in a stable condition, his granddaughter says, though he remains critical.

Ndileka Mandela said the 94-year-old's family were taking comfort from messages of support from the public.

Mr Mandela's health had worsened in recent days, prompting President Jacob Zuma to cancel a foreign visit.

South Africa's first black president has been in hospital since 8 June with a lung infection.

Emotional crowds continue to gather outside the Pretoria hospital.

They have been adding messages of support for Mr Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba.

Correspondents say South Africans now seem resigned to the prospect of his death. "We don't like seeing Mandela going through so much pain, he has had a tough time in his life and he's gone through a lot of struggle. I think this struggle should get over sooner," Khulile Mlondleni told the BBC.

"We are all going to feel bad when he passes [away], but at the same time we will be celebrating his life. He has done so many great things for this country," said 25-year-old John Ndlovu, quoted by Reuters news agency.

Speculation warning

After visiting her grandfather in hospital, Mdileka Mandela said it was an anxious time for the family.

"He's stable and we'd like to say that we thank everybody for giving their support and praying with us ... we are anxious as you know that he is critical but he's in a stable condition right now," she said.

"It's been hard, especially because of all of this - that we have to do everything in the public eye."

Mr Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj said on Wednesday evening that Mr Mandela's condition had deteriorated over the weekend.

After consultations with doctors, Mr Zuma said he was cancelling his trip to a regional summit in the Mozambican capital Maputo. The statement from his office said he "reiterated his gratitude on behalf of government, to all South Africans who continue to support the Madiba family".

The decision will only reinforce the impression that Nelson Mandela's life is slipping away, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports from Johannesburg.

But later Mr Zuma's office warned against speculation about Mr Mandela's health, saying that announcements about his condition would come from the president himself or Mr Maharaj.

Mr Maharaj criticised some media outlets for broadcasting unverified information, as rumours spread on social media sites.

Mr Mandela is revered for leading the fight against white minority rule in South Africa and then preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected president the following year. He left office in 1999 after a single term. 

Read More