Govt decides to reduce sales tax rate to single digit

 

KARACHI: To reduce inflation, give relief to the middle and lower income people and stop tax evasion, the government has accepted the proposal of the business community’s working group to bring down the sales tax rate to a single digit.
On the direction of the finance minister, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) started work on reducing the rate of sales tax below 10 percent. The finance minister and his team welcomed the proposal coming from chambers and associations from across the country. Sources said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had told traders and industrialists that the prime minister wanted to give relief to the middle and lower income groups.

A panel of chartered accountants and economic experts has put the proposal in front of the ministry after working many weeks. According to the proposal, reducing the sales tax rate to a single digit will benefit the people and reduce inflation.

The working group has also included the analysis of FBR data for the year 2012-13 showing that when the government had implemented sales tax at the rate of 17 percent, it could generate revenue only at the rate of 3.92 percent after making adjustments.

The reason for this loss is fake refunds and wrong inputs.The proposal has asked the government to set the sales tax rate at between 5 to 7 percent and abolish the system of input adjustments and refunds.

If the government keeps the rate of sales tax at 7 percent, it could generate revenue worth Rs1,400 to 1,500 billion. The sources said the ministry had accepted the proposal overall but corrupt elements in the FBR were opposing it.

Facebook, Instagram crack down on gun sales on social networks

Facebook said its policy change was made in consultation with a number of individuals and organizations

Facebook Inc  and its photo sharing subsidiary, Instagram, will delete posts offering to buy or sell guns without background checks, Facebook announced on Wednesday.
In an effort to curb what gun control advocates say is the increasing use of the social networks to circumvent checks and controls on firearms sales, Facebook and Instagram will also bar users under 18 from viewing gun offers posted by individuals or groups. “We will not permit people to post offers to sell regulated items that indicate a willingness to evade or help others evade the law,” Facebook said.
The move by the world’s largest social network and Instagram may add fuel to an already intense debate over U.S. gun rights, following a series of mass shootings across the country. A spate of shootings in recent weeks across the United States has renewed questions about the vulnerability of public places like shopping centers and schools and sparked fresh calls for stiffer gun controls such as universal background checks and limitations on the sale of ammunition.
States like Connecticut and New York have passed a series of new gun measures. But opponents, including the National Rifle Association, the nation’s leading gun rights lobby, argue that tighter restrictions would unfairly limit the rights of responsible gun owners.
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Facebook said its policy change was made in consultation with a number of individuals and organizations, including New York state Attorney General Attorney Eric Schneiderman, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Sandy Hook Promise and Moms Demand Action, which drew attention to loopholes on the Internet that allowed private sales of firearms without background checks.
“Our campaign exposed how simple it is for dangerous people to get their hands on guns, no questions asked – not only on Facebook and Instagram – but across the Internet,” Mayors Against Illegal Guns Chairman John Feinblatt said in a joint statement with Moms Demand Action.
“Unfortunately, the ‘private sale loophole’ allows anonymous parties to sell guns without background checks, and there are simply too many ways for criminals, minors and other prohibited gun purchasers to get them easily – with just the click of a mouse,” he said.
On Wednesday, the NRA accused Mayors Against Illegal Guns of previously trying to inhibit free expression on Facebook.
The groups “tried to pressure Facebook into shutting down discussion of Second Amendment issues on its social media platforms,” said Chris Cox, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action.
“NRA members and our supporters will continue to have a platform to exercise their First Amendment rights in support of their Second Amendment freedoms.”
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of expression, as well as freedom of religion.
The Second Amendment says, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Whether the amendment protects an individual’s right to own firearms or solely a state’s right to self-defense has been heavily debated.
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Edwin Chan; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)