Fata, Pata units: Senate panel for restoration of tax exemptions for five years

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance has recommended that exemptions given to erstwhile Fata and Pata including Malakand Division prior to the 25th Constitutional Amendment may be restored for a period of five years.
Finance committee meeting presided over by Senator Farooq H Naek on Friday however, decided that for the applicability of such exemptions to the industries to be set up in future, more discussion should be made after a visit by the committee to the area and soliciting views of all the stakeholders.
Member Inland Revenue (Policy) Dr Muhammad Iqbal informed the committee that the FBR has prepared a notification of tax exemptions approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet following the 25th Constitutional Amendment. He stated that Customs Act is already extended to Fata and Pata. He wanted that FBR should be allowed to issue the notification
The committee recommended that the notification regarding tax exemptions to Fata/Pata and Malakand Division through the FBR should not be issued till the next meeting of the committee.
Members of the committee were of the view that there is a need to facilitate the area badly affected during the military operations against extremists by extending tax exemptions to commercial enterprises in Fata/Pata and Malakand Division for a minimum period of five years. They stressed that all exemptions given in Article 247 that are prior to the 25th Constitutional Amendment should be fully allowed to them.
Chairman Committee Senator Naek asserted that the committee be briefed about the collection and distribution modes for the Central Zakat Fund. He also questioned about the department where this fund is deposited. The additional secretary, Ministry of Finance, clarified that this subject does not fall under his ambit and that the Ministry of Religious Affairs is responsible for this fund. After deliberation, the chairman committee concluded that the Ministry of Religious Affairs be called in the next meeting.
On the issue of the registration of non-customs-paid vehicles in Fata/Pata and Malakand Division, Senator Mohsin Aziz wanted to make the people of the areas aware through an advertising campaign.
He further stated that there is a need to extend the deadline for registration of non-customs paid vehicles for a minimum of 30 days. The committee chairman recommended two months extension in deadline for non-customs-paid vehicles as well as publicity campaign so that the residents of that region could be made aware of the process. The officials of the FBR informed the committee that more than one hundred thousands vehicles were registered in Fata.
The member of the committee also pointed out that Central Excise Duty (CED) was increased from 15 percent to 16 percent in Fata and Pata. The official stated that concessions to the people of Fata/Pata and Malakand Division are still in place as the tax levied was 16 percent as opposed to 21 percent suggested by the Senate of Pakistan during the budget.
The meeting commenced with consideration of a point of public importance raised by Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi regarding utilization of Zakat funds in the education and health sectors and details that revealed disbursement of those funds to Fata.