KARACHI: The Federal Revenue Council (FBR) agreed to return the Rs1 billion withheld from the Sindh treasury, prompting the provincial government to continue to collect withholding taxes on motor vehicle registrations after a three-month break, sources said on Thursday.
The source said the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department was continuing to collect withholding taxes on motor vehicle registrations after FBR agreed to return the amount as the first phase of Rs5 billion.
The Sindh government suspended levying a withholding tax on new motor vehicle registrations in July last year after the FBR recovered a total of Rs5 billion from a provincial bank account managed at the federal level.
The federal government is making all its efforts to convince provincial governments to continue collecting as withholding taxes. However, the provincial government has a clear stance that the collection will not commence until the money is returned that was allegedly taken by FBR from its account.
The provincial department collects withholding taxes under section (231B and 234 Income Tax Ordinance 2001).
The provincial excise and taxation department suspended tax collection, referring to the Sindh cabinet decision. The province decided to stop collecting withholding taxes on behalf of the FBR, which were collected by the excise, taxation and narcotics control departments. The decision was taken in connection with the Sindh Cabinet decision which was held in February last year.
Following an irresistible provincial stance, FBR was forced to return the amount to the provincial government, according to FBR officials.
A senior FBR official confirmed with The News that the revenue agency paid one billion rupees out of the Rs5 billion claimed and the payment challenge was ready to transfer.
“The remaining amount will be paid on time,” the official said.
The Sindh excise and tax department began collecting tax cuts since last October. The FBR official said the provincial department assured top tax authorities about collecting motor vehicle registrations from July to September.
The Karachi Regional Tax Office received Rs222 million under section 231B in December, a significant 222 percent higher compared to Rs69 million in the same month last year. Likewise, the tax office received Rs207 million under section 234 in December, 15 percent higher than Rs181 million in the same month last year.
MAYBE the best thing about fashion, apart from the make-up itself, is that the fashion trends of a few generations ago are back.
I’ll be raiding my parents’ wardrobe and will hang out on Pinterest for inspiration. So far, I’ve found my dad’s gray-white striped polo shirt and my mom’s flowing floral skirt. She wore it at my brother’s baptism in 1995.
Now, I notice that there is a fashion trend that my older sisters used to wear during the early 2000s in their teenage years that are back now. Here are some of them:
1. Rectangular neck blouse
The rectangular neckline accentuates the length of the neck, collarbone, and shoulders. I usually find this design on Pinterest and online fashion stores.
2. Plaid mini skirt
Think of Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time music video. Plaid mini skirts usually feature a young school girl look. This goes great with a fitted sweater, perhaps a turtleneck.
I recently bought this one from a friend at a previous job. Black mini skirt with thin plaid stripes in white and red. It’s a really comfortable outfit and can sometimes even be paired with a top that’s a little loose.
Plaid mini skirts can come in zipped, strapped, or garted.
3. Scrunchies
Back when I was young and my sisters were teenagers, these weren’t called scrunchies. They are called ponytails, at least in our place. They weren’t very fancy back then. It is just a basic tool for gathering one’s hair into a neat ponytail or bun.
But now, this hair accessory is more luxurious. Obviously, one thing is that they came up with a prettier name. Apart from that, they are also made of different fabrics – such as satin, silk, cotton, etc.
4. Baguette bag
I clearly remember this when I was young. We used to have some of them lying around the house belonging to my sister and mother. When you watch 90s to 2000s movies, chances are you will also see lots of characters using one of them. It is ‘that’ bag.
Now, back again! This photo is from EazyPeazy, a Filipino online bag shop. They come in black, gray, and olive green.
Women may feel nostalgic about finding this and that to become one of their bestsellers. It is not only beautiful but also has enough space for your needs.
5. Trousers
Rob your mom’s closet and look for trousers they don’t wear anymore. If it doesn’t suit you, take it to a tailor to change. That’s what I did!
They are perfect to pair with a tucked-in top and can be worn on casual days or office meetings. It’s also ideal for people in their 20s who are young professionals. As they say, wear and fashion according to your age.
If there is any reason to be wary of Ineos Team UK at America’s Cup 2021, it may be the presence of an understated 63 year old Australian.
Of the three challengers, the English team has was almost considered a serious threat, after their poor performance at the World Cup America’s Cup in December, which revealed problems with boat speed and maneuverability.
There’s more of a focus on Luna Rossa, with Jimmy Spithill’s presence and ongoing sparring with Team New Zealand, while American Magic has an obvious traction, with Dean Barker and the return of the New York Yacht Club.
But if the British – and that’s a big if – can solve their hardware problems, they have an all-star line-up, and chief executive Grant Simmer could be a complement.
Sir Ben Ainslie admits he paid a heavy price for Sydneysider’s services, as they continue Britain’s 169-year quest for Mug Auld. Perhaps no one in Auckland has more Cup experience than Simmer, starting his 11th campaign.
Simmer was also on the winning side against Team New Zealand in the Cup match three times, although he laughed when it was said he had become ‘kryptonite against the Kiwi’.
“No – far from it,” said Simmer. “It just tells you that I am lucky to be on the defender’s side. The Kiwis have always been the strongest challengers so they are very good.”
Maybe so, but the resume tells a story. “People like Grant know the game, they know the Cup very well,” said former New Zealand Team sailor Joey Allen, a veteran of six campaigns, from 1995 to 2013.
“He was part of a great calling in San Francisco, where they made some big, monumental decisions.”
“He knows the ins and outs of the campaign better than most people,” added former New Zealand Challenge sailor Peter Lester, now an expert commentator. “He’s a very good man to be on your side.”
UK Ineos Team CEO Grant Simmer during Ineos Team UK America’s Cup ‘Britannia’ ship launching event in Portsmouth in 2019. Photo / Getty Images.
The last time the Cup was staged in Auckland (2003) Simmer was a key part of Alinghi’s team in a smash-and-grab attack. Simmer was there again in Valencia in 2007, for the best Cup regatta on an IACC class ship, by the closest margin in history.
Dan Simmer arrived in 2013 as general manager of Oracle’s operations which managed to emerge from an 8-1 deficit.
Of all the characters involved in this edition of the Cup, only a few have a record like Simmer. His career began in the early 1980s, as navigator John Bertrand in Australia II, part of the legendary crew that beat Liberty 4-3 in 1983 to end 132 years of stranglehold on New York at the Cup.
Simmer has been involved with four different teams and won the Cup four times (two challenges and two defenses), in the United States, New Zealand and Europe.
He has won against Team New Zealand on three occasions – no individual has managed more – and marked the Grant Dalton syndicate as the ultimate benchmark.
What’s behind Team New Zealand’s enduring consistency? “There are three things,” said Simmer. “They are always innovative. They are good at focusing on priorities, because they are a bit difficult on the budget, so they must focus on priorities.
“And they have great seafaring depth. There’s Russell [Coutts], Brad [Butterworth], Warwick [Fleury], Simon [Daubney], Dean [Barker] and now Pete [Burling] and Blair [Tuke]… very strong. That’s a great recipe for a successful team. “
SImmer’s meeting with the New Zealand Team began in 2003, when he was head of design for Alinghi.
“It is a very controversial thing because we have Russell and Brad and a group of Kiwis of the 2000 winning crew who are the main sailors on our ship and also lead the campaign,” said Simmer.
“It was emulating what they have learned from the New Zealand Team and it is a strong challenge. We have a good boat, a good technical program and have gone through a series of pretty tough challengers, [so] we are better prepared than the New Zealanders. “
Team New Zealand’s fragile NZL82 isn’t well remembered from a 5-0 sweep, but Simmer said it wasn’t entirely straightforward.
“They have a very innovative design and they are probably the fastest boats we have come across,” said Simmer.
“It’s not clear to us from the start who will win. But our guys are sailing very well, and we are equal or a little better in speed and that will usually do it for you. And they broke their pole (fourth race) and the damage. [in the first race]. “
Simmer was Alinghi’s managing director when they defended the Cup in Valencia, averaging just 23 seconds difference in seven races.
“There was absolutely nothing between the teams,” said Simmer. “Maybe we have a little bit of an advantage against the wind, but it will start and who is seeded.”
(Left to right) Brad Butterworth, Ernesto Bertarelli, Grant Simmer of Tim Alinghi (SUI) at the press conference for the 33rd Copa America in Port America’s Cup, Valencia, Spain in 2010. Photo / Getty.
After Oracle won the Cup in 2010, Coutts signed up for Simmer before the defense in San Francisco.
Oracle has put together an impressive roster, but they are all at sea in the first half of the Cup contest.
“We never thought we could win,” said Simmer. “We are struggling to keep up with the speed of the Kiwi [and] we lost a lot of races from the start. It was Larry Ellison, along with Russell who said, ‘our friends have to stop … we’re going to fall if we keep like this’. They are actually forcing us to make such radical changes. “
Simmer remembers being amazed at the New Zealand Team at the time, who were far ahead with their failing abilities.
“We just have to keep making changes,” said Simmer. “We were able to load the wings down a lot more, and we were able to knock against the wind and in the end we ended faster and that turned things around. Then it was a matter of recovering the points without breaking, but it’s hard to imagine we can win so many races in a row. “
But the New Zealand Team has learned a valuable lesson. “If you look at the Kiwis in Bermuda, they didn’t look like they were going to be winners when they first arrived, but they just kept getting better and better,” said Simmer.
“Then they were so dominant in the Cup. You never want to be quiet … you have to keep improving.”
WAs we speak, Simmer looks restless, but excited. The construction of the second British ship (Britannia) took longer than expected, which put pressure on their already compressed timeframe.
“It will always be difficult,” said Simmer. “We’re always fighting for time with these new ships and it’s a balance. You give yourself more design time and then try to minimize construction time so you can start sailing the ship as quickly as possible.
“But it’s a 75-foot long composite structure, so high-weight and light that the construction process took six to eight months and you can’t get any shorter than that.
“I am not happy that it took us longer to commission this ship than anticipated, but the systems on the ship are very complex.”
Simmer has been part of the journey from the 12 meter class to the AC75s, through the IACC class, the 2010 multihulls and the early foiling classes in 2013 (75 feet) and 2017 (50 feet).
He characterizes the AC75 as “exciting, moderately challenging, expensive and complex” in the “really bold” decisions of record defenders and challengers.
Like most, Simmer has concerns about potential disparities in races.
Grant Simmer, member of the Alingh America’s Cup defensive team, at a press conference at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 2009. Photo / Getty Images.
“I hoped we would see close range but they were going that fast so if one boat made the slightest mistake, like a less than ideal bending, the other team could go 50-60 meters straight away,” said Simmer.
“We may see a fairly large interval on the water, a considerable distance but as the boats mature as we get through the races to the final they will get closer and closer.”
The three 2021 challengers are all a ‘super team’, and the British syndicate has an outstanding cast. Ineos’ endorsement is believed to be the largest single sponsor in shipping history and Ainslie has pursued some of the biggest names, especially overseas.
As well as Simmer, he also signed long-standing contracts with New Zealand team design chief Nick Holroyd (1997-2015) and Dutchman Rolf Vrolijk, who helped create the successful Alinghi ship in 2003 and 2007.
Their craftsmanship has resulted in radical designs, including a huge frenzied keel that extends almost to the stern. “The shape of our hull is more radical because we are more aggressive with our aerodynamics,” said Simmer.
“There is some debate whether we are doing this radical, but we are pushing it and it will be fine.
“The hull’s contribution to the overall aerodynamics of performance is only partial. The lining, control system and screen control are a much bigger contributor to performance than the shape of the hull, so our hull shape will be fine.”
The English base is a frenzy of activity but Simmer remains calm. He’s been here many times before and knows the learning curve is usually exponential.
“We’re focused on sailing as much as possible and getting ready for the race.”
(ANSA) – ROME, DEC 31 – Deputy Health Minister Sandra Zampa said on Thursday she believes all of Italy will return to the yellow zone of low COVID risk on January 7, from the current festive red zone.
“I don’t know exactly the data from all regions but because it is better I think so,” said Zampa to Affaritaliani.it.
But he added: “we cannot rule out a new red zone, it will depend on the progress of the data”.
On January 7, he said, Italy would return to a three-color, three-tiered system, yellow, orange and red, but almost all countries are expected to be yellow. (ANSA).
The government has announced additional Covid-19 tests for people returning to New Zealand from high-risk countries including the UK and US.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins this morning announced that additional tests would be required for those returning upon their arrival in New Zealand from midnight on December 31.
And additional plans for pre-departure tests for those leaving the UK for New Zealand are in the works. The goal is to introduce them from mid-January.
New border protection measures have been driven by the emergence of new and more infectious variants of the virus around the world, and high disease rates in some countries.
Hipkins said from the information officials received, the latest strains spread more easily and were easier to catch.
“The consequences are no more severe than for other types of Covid-19. You can see the same symptoms, the same effects, and the vaccine will still work,” he said.
“The extra PCR test will be applied on ‘day one’, as returnees who have been in Great Britain or the United States for the previous 14 days go through New Zealand airport surveillance, or on the ‘first day’, after they arrive at an isolation facility and managed quarantines. “
The majority of cases initially came to New Zealand from either the UK or the US, the next tier being countries such as India, Pakistan and Mexico.
The new test will be in addition to the current third and 12 day testing.
“Returnees will also be asked to be isolated or quarantined in their allocated room at the facility until their initial tests produce results,” said Hipkins.
“This means that if the results are positive, they will be transferred to a quarantine facility effectively several days earlier than under the standard two-test regime.
“We have been monitoring developments overseas very closely, and, like many other countries, New Zealand has raised concerns about a new variant of the virus and its potential to spread more rapidly, and high infection rates in some countries.
“We saw people without symptoms coming across the border who were then picked up on the third day of testing, so this will pick them up as early as possible.
“It will also help us identify in advance who is seated close to them on the flight.”
Hipkins said while increasing travel restrictions were imposed in countries that host airport hubs and by the airlines themselves – which block routes to New Zealand for most travelers from high-risk countries – the Government is taking these extra precautions to “provide another layer of protection and to support our goal of making summer unstoppable”.
He said the additional requirements would provide extra security for those working in MIQ facilities, and the public.
Hipkins also announced there would be pre-departure testing for British arrivals to New Zealand from mid-January.
“Avoiding viruses remains our greatest protection and as we have done so far, we regularly review our settings and make changes that will make a difference,” he explained.
“Plans for pre-departure risk reduction measures, including testing for people leaving the UK for New Zealand, are currently in the works, with a view to implementing them from mid-January.
“This includes selecting the form of testing that is most effective in the situation. Additional risk measures for other countries are also being considered.
“The returning refugees still have to go through a 14-day managed isolation and quarantine process upon arrival in New Zealand.”
He acknowledged further processing “will present extra hurdles for Kiwis planning to return”.
“We don’t take this lightly,” he said.
“We are going beyond what we have done in the past, to stay ahead of what appears to be a worsening situation globally and, by doing so, we will reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 during transit and entering our managed isolation facilities. “
Hipkins said an “eventual safe travel zone” with Australia and real countries would ultimately mean fewer people from low-risk countries living in managed isolation facilities in New Zealand.
That would then allow more people from high-risk countries to come.
“Additional offshore risk measures including pre-departure testing will help us prepare for such an increased risk of arrival to our facilities and to incoming flights,” he said.
Until yesterday, 16 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in New Zealand since Christmas Eve.
Fifteen cases are at the border.
Another case is a historical case in the community since seven months ago which has now been confirmed.
The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 50 after 15 recovered.
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