To give effect to the financial proposals of the Federal Government for the year beginning on the first day of July 2000, and to amend certain laws.

WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision to give effect to the financial proposals of the Federal Government for the year beginning on the first day of July, 2000, and to amend certain laws for the purposes hereinafter appearing;

WHEREAS the National Assembly and the Senate stand suspended in pursuance of the Proclamation of Emergency of the fourteenth day of October, 1999, and the Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 1999;

WHEREAS the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action;

NOW, THEREFORE, in pursuance of Proclamation of Emergency of the fourteenth day of October, 1999, and Provisional Constitutional Order No. 1 of 1999, as well as order No. 9 of 1999, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to make and promulgate the following ordinance.

1.  Short title, extent and commencement.-  (1) This Ordinance may be called Finance Ordinance, 2000.
(2)   It extends to the whole of Pakistan
(3) It shall come into force at once.

2.  Amendment of Act I of 1944.- The following amendments shall be made in the

(3)     clause (ii) shall be omitted;

(4)     for the section 33, the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“33 Power of adjudication.— (1)  Subject to sub-section (2), in cases involving confiscation of goods or imposition of penalty under this Act or the rules made thereunder, the jurisdiction and powers of adjudication of the Central Excise Officers shall be as follows:-

(2)  The Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, vary the jurisdiction and powers of any Central Excise Officer or a class of Central Excise Officers.

(3)  A Collector, an Additional Collector and a Deputy Collector shall decide the case within forty-five days of the issuance of show cause notice or within such extended period for which reasons shall be recorded in writing, provided that such extended period shall in no case exceed ninety days.”;

Provided that the Board shall have powers to regulate the system of adjudication including transfer of cases and extension of time limit in exceptional circumstances. 

(5)   Section 35 shall be omitted; 

(6)    Section 35A shall be omitted;

(7)   In section 35B,- (a)    in sub-section (1), -

(i)     after the word “person” the words “or central excise officer” shall be inserted;

(ii)     in clause (a), for the words “the Collector of Central Excise” the words “a Central Excise Officer” shall be substituted;

(iv) clause (b) shall be omitted;

(v)   in clause (d), for the figure and word “35-A” the figure and word “35E” shall be substituted; and

(vi)  in the second proviso, for the word “ten”  the word “fifty” shall be substituted; 

(b)   sub-section (2) shall be omitted;

(c) in sub-section (6), the words, brackets and figure “an appeal referred to in sub-section (2) or” shall be omitted; and

(d)   after sub-section (6), amended as aforesaid, the following new sub-section shall be added, namely:- 

“(7)  All cases pending before a Collector (Appeals), immediately before the commencement of the Finance Ordinance, 2000, shall stand transferred to Appellate Tribunal for disposal.”; 

(8)     in section 35C,- (a) in sub-section (1), for the full stop, at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

“Provided that appeal shall be decided within sixty days of filing the appeal or within such extended period as the Tribunal may, for reasons to be recorded in writing fix, provided that such extended period shall in no case exceed ninety days.”;

(b)   in sub-section (3), for the words “Collector of Central Excise” the words “Central Excise Officer” shall be substituted;

(9)   section 36 shall be omitted;

(10)   in section 36B,-

(a)   in sub-section (1), in the first proviso,- (i)  the comma, words and brackets “, the Collector (Appeals) or” shall be omitted;

(ii)   the words, brackets and commas “the Collector (Appeals) or, as the case may be,” shall be omitted;

(iii)  the words “he or” shall be omitted;

(b)   in the second proviso, the words “appellate authority” the words “Appellate Tribunal” shall be substituted;  

(c)   in the third proviso, the comma, words and brackets “, the Collector (Appeals) or” shall be omitted;

(d)   Sub-section (2) shall be omitted;

(11)   Chapter VI-A, and sections 36N, 36O, 36P, 36Q, 36R, 36S, 36T, 36U, 36V, 36W and 36X  shall be omitted; and

(12)     in the First Schedule, in paragraph 2, in the first table, in the first column, after heading 33.02, the following new heading number and the entries relating thereto in the second and third columns shall be inserted, namely:-  

“38.14 Organic composite solvents Rs.10 per and thinners, not elsewhere litre.”. specified or included; prepared paint or varnish removers.

3.  Amendment of Act XV of 1963.- The following amendments shall be made in the Wealth-tax Act, 1963 (XV of 1963), namely:-

(1) in section 2, in sub-section (10), after the comma, occurring for the first time, the words and comma "an Assistant Commissioner of Wealth-tax," shall be inserted and shall be deemed always to have been so inserted;

(2) in section 3, after the colon at the end, the following proviso shall be added, namely: -

"Provided that wealth-tax shall not be chargeable in respect of any assessment year commencing on or after the first day of July, 2001.";

(3) in section 13A, in sub-section (1), in the proviso, for the full stop, at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be added, namely:-

"Provided further that nothing contained in this section shall apply in respect of any assessment year commencing on or after the first day of July, 2001.";

(4) in section 13D, after sub-section (3), the following new sub-section shall be added, namely:- "(4) Advance tax under this section shall not be payable in the financial year commencing on or after the first day of July, 2000.";

(5) in section 14, in sub-section (1A), in clause (a), the second proviso shall be omitted;

(6) in section 14C, in sub-section (1), in the proviso, for the full stop, at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be added, namely:-

"Provided further that nothing contained in this section shall apply in respect of any assessment year commencing on or after the first day of July, 2001."; and

(7) in section 14D, in sub-section (1), in the second proviso, for the full stop, at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be added, namely:-

"Provided further that  nothing contained in this section shall apply in respect of any assessment year commencing on or after the first day of July, 2001.".

4. Amendment of Act IV of 1969.- The following amendments shall be made in the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), namely:-  1.  In section 2,

(a) in clause (a) the words “, Collector (Appeals)” shall be omitted; and

(b) in section 2, the clause (ff) shall be omitted;

2. for section 5, the following shall be substituted, namely:-        

"5.   Delegation of powers.- (1) The Board may, by notification in the official Gazette and subject to such limitations or conditions as may be specified therein, empower by name or designation - (a)  any Additional Collector of Customs or Deputy Collector of Customs to exercise any of the powers of a Collector of Customs under this Act;

(b)  any Deputy Collector of Customs or Assistant Collector of Customs to exercise any of the powers of an Additional Collector of Customs under this Act;  

(c)  any Assistant Collector of Customs to exercise any of the powers of a Deputy Collector of Customs under this Act; and

(d)  any other officer of customs with any other designation..

(2)  Unless the Board in any case otherwise directs, the Collector may authorize any officer subordinate to him to exercise within any specified area, any of the powers of the Collector or of any other officer of Customs under this Act.”’                        

3.  In section 25,- (i) for sub-section (4), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

"(4)   Where, in relation to the goods being valued, the appropriate officer is of the opinion that the importer has not, for the purposes of clause (a) of sub-section (3), demonstrated that the relationship did not influence the price or, for the purposes of clause (b) of sub-section (3), that the declared price at which the goods are imported does not closely approximate to one of the test values mentioned therein, the appropriate officer shall inform the importer of his reservations in writing and give the importer an opportunity to justify the price difference. If the importer fails to justify the price difference, the customs value cannot be determined under the provisions of sub-section(1).";

(ii) in sub-section 5,-  (a) in clause (a),- (i)  for the word "provision"  the word "provisions" shall be substituted; and

(ii) after the word "of", occurring for the second time, the word "the" shall be inserted.;

(b) after clause (c), the following new clause shall be added, namely:-

"(d) If, in applying the provisions of this sub-section, there are two or more transaction values of identical goods that meet all the requirements of this sub-section and clauses (b), (d), (e) and (f) of sub-section (13), the customs value of the imported goods shall be the lowest such transaction value, adjusted as necessary in accordance with clauses (b) and (c).";

(iii)  for sub-section (6), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

"(6)  Transaction value of similar goods.- If the customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined under the provisions of sub-section (5), it shall, subject to clauses (c), (d), (e) and (f) of sub-section 13 and rules, be the transaction value of similar goods sold for export to Pakistan and exported at or about the same time as the goods being valued, and the provisions of clauses (a), (b) (c) and (d) of sub-section (5) shall, mutatis mutandis, also apply in respect of similar goods.";

(iv) in sub-section (7), in clause (a),- (a) in sub-clause(ii), after the section, at the end, the word "and" shall be added; and

(b) sub-clause (iii), shall be omitted.;

4. In section 32,- (i) in sub-section (2), for the word "three", the word "five" shall be substituted;

(ii) in sub-section (3), for the words "six months", the words "three years" shall be substituted; and

(ii) after sub-section(3), the following new sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(3A)   Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3), where any duty or charge has not been levied or has been short-levied or has been erroneously refunded and this is discovered as a result of an audit or examination of an importer's accounts or by any means other than an examination of the documents provided by the importer at the time the goods were imported, the person liable to pay any amount on that account shall be served with a notice within three years of the relevant date requiring him to show cause why he should not pay the amount specified in the notice.";

5. in section 81, in sub-section (2), for the word and figure “one hundred and eighty days” the words "one year" shall be substituted.;

6. after section 83, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-