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Taxing aid for IDPs may upset donors
 [Dawn] The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has warned the federal authorities that the collection of sales tax from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government might lead to halting foreign-funded humanitarian assistance projects in the province. Y'think? Probably only those not run by dumbasses will quit, though. In a recent letter to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) the PDMA, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, has asked it to help it get a refund of Rs8.1 million from the Federal Board of Revenue. "And can we have that in small, unmarked bills, please?" The PDMA has moved the NDMA against the sales tax authorities after they collected the tax from the provincial government against food and non-food items purchased in 2009-10 for distribution among millions of internally displaced persons under a UNHCR-funded relief project. Terming the collection as 'unauthorised', the PDMA said: "The withdrawal of Rs8.16 million from the UNHCR bank accounts is unauthorised and would have negative/adverse impacts on all the donors and there is possibility of the abandonment and stoppage of this project and other projects by the UNHCR and other international donors." The PDMA has informed the NDMA that the sales tax collection from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government risks to annoy foreign donors and they might stop their projects in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. "It is requested that the matter may kindly be taken up with the chairman FBR, Islamabad, to issue orders to the Chief Commissioner RTO, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , for refund of Rs8.16 million to the UNHCR bank account in the best public interest," contains the PDMA letter to NDMA's chairman. The PDMA has long been running a dispute with the Peshawar-based sales tax authorities after they levied sales tax on its purchases made in 2009-10. The PDMA has been of the view that sales tax cannot be charged to it since the purchases made in 2009-10 were meant for distributing food and non-food items among millions of internally displaced persons. The tax authorities had initially levied Rs6.012 million sales tax on PDMA's Rs37.5 million purchases. This led the PDMA to move the Commissioner Inland Revenue (Appeal), Peshawar, against the levy.However, women are made to be loved, not understood... the commissioner accepted the PDMA's stand partially and asked it to pay the reduced amount of Rs4.85 million. The PDMA moved the Commissioner Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue, Peshawar, and challenged the reduced levy. This appeal, too, was rejected in July last year. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... after a gap of over one year and three months, the secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa law, parliamentary affairs and human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... department on Oct 23, 2013, in a letter to the office of the advocate general, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, advised it to challenge the appellate tribunal's decision through a writ petition before the Peshawar High Court. In this respect, the advocate general was also asked to make the concerned dealers/suppliers as parties to the case, making them to pay the sales tax instead of the PDMA.However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... in the meantime Rs8.16 million was paid to the office of the enforcement and compliance-II (sales tax department) on Oct 25 last from a bank account that receives funds/donations from the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Posted by: Fred 2013-11-05 |
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