June 24, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1427

ISLAMABAD, June 23: The Central Board of Revenue has finalised draft income tax rules for computing tax on gross salary of salaried taxpayers inclusive of perks and privileges to be effective from July 1, 2006.

The CBR issued an income tax notification SRO596 of 2006 on June 5, proposing draft amendments to the Income Tax Rules, 2002. The notification sought suggestions from the stakeholders within 15 days which expired on June 20.

CBR spokesman Habib Fakhruddin told Dawn on Friday that so far the CBR did not receive any proposal from the stakeholders for making any change in the draft rules. “So the draft rules were finalised, which would be notified shortly for making them effective from July,” the spokesman added.

Interestingly, the notification was neither printed in newspapers nor sent to the stakeholders concerned for seeking a formal opinion before finalising it. When asked about it, the spokesman replied that the notification was available on the CBR website.

According to the amendments, valuation of perquisites, allowances and benefits: For the purposes of computing the income chargeable to tax under the head salary, the value of all perquisites, allowances and benefits provided by the employer to the employee shall be included in the said income in accordance with the rules 4 to 6. Valuation of accommodation: The value of accommodation provided by an employer to the employee shall be taken equal to the amount that would have been paid by the employer in case such accommodation was not provided. Valuation of conveyance: The value of conveyance provided by the employer to the employee shall be taken equal to an amount as in case of partly or personal and partly for private purpose, five per cent of the cost of motor vehicle to the employer for acquiring motor vehicle; and for personal use only 10 per cent of the cost of motor vehicle to the employer for acquiring motor vehicle.