Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should concentrate on rehabilitation of Chitral instead of mobilising people to march on Islamabad on August 7.

Dozens of people have died in rain-related incidents; therefore, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should take care of them instead of playing politics against the federal government, Dar said. Addressing a press conference at the Punjab House on Sunday evening, Dar said the government really did not care about PTI’s rally in Islamabad.

The finance minister said that National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq called a meeting on the terms of reference (ToRs) for the judicial commission, which would lead an investigation into the Panama leaks, on August 1 (today) because Awami National Party (ANP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) members requested the meeting. He said the meeting was postponed until August 6 because Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan was not available on August 1. He said, “I will not be available on August 6, as I have to go to Dubai for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I will advise the speaker to convene the meeting on August 8 or 9.”

Giving details of the newly imposed taxes on the real estate sector, the finance minister said the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) would not be applicable to the plots given to the families of the martyrs. He said that government servants who would be given plots in recognition of their services would pay 50 percent of the CGT (on the first transaction only).

“We have estimated that the FBR [Federal Board of Revenue] will collect Rs 60 to Rs 70 billion tax from the real estate sector this year. In the fiscal year 2015-16, it collected just Rs 8 billion tax from this sector. We will enforce the decision by law and if someone has genuine problems, we can deliberate over them, but we will not change the law,” Dar said. The president has signed the Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016 into law and it will be enforced as soon as possible, he said.

Talking about the Customs Act enforced in the Malakand Division on March 28, 2016, the finance minister said the president of Pakistan had repealed the extension of the Customs Act, 1969 to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) on the advice of the prime minister. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister sought extension of the Customs Act, 1969 to PATA. Later, he said, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government moved a summary for extension of the Customs Act, 1969 to PATA in the light of the recommendations of the Apex Committee. He said the president of Pakistan approved the request and a notification was issued on March 28, 2016. He said the people of PATA protested against this decision. When the prime minister visited Swat, he said, people demanded withdrawal of this act. He said that several parliamentarians from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) asked the government during the budget session to repeal the Customs Act, 1969. “I promised during the budget session that I will place the matter before the prime minister on his return from abroad,” he said.

After this, he said, the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) forwarded a summary moved by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on May 5, 2016. The summary recommended that the president of Pakistan might approve repealing the extension of the Customs Act, 1969 to PATA due to poverty in the region. He said the president would sign this act and it would be withdrawn within 24 hours.