Govt Mulls Other Ways to Tax Bank Profits from Investment in Govt Securities

In an extraordinary development, the government has decided to implement alternate fiscal schemes to tax bank profits accrued from investment in government securities.  In line with the directions of prime minister, the government has constituted a high-level committee to review the existing legal framework of fiscal measures related to Advance to Deposit Ratio of banking sector.  The notification issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) revealed, in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s Office U.O. on the above subject, a committee to resolve the issue of Advances to Deposit Ratio (ADR) has been constituted.  The committee would comprise of the following:  Deputy Prime Minister would be the Convener of the committee. Members of the committee are Minister for Finance & Revenue, Law Minister, Minister of State for Finance & Revenue, Attorney General of Pakistan, Finance Secretary, Chairman, FBR, Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Ms. Asma Hamid.  The Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the committee would be as under:  Member (IR-Policy), FBR will act as secretary of the committee.