Faisalabad disburses Rs4b in sales tax refund

Official claims refund cases being processed within time limit.

FAISALABAD:

The Regional Tax Office (RTO) in Faisalabad disbursed Rs4 billion in sales tax refund during the last financial year that ended on June 30, according to Inland Revenue Services Chief Commissioner Muhammad Ashraf Khan on Wednesday.

He claimed that it was the first time that refund cases were processed within the prescribed time limit to facilitate exporters of Faisalabad.

Speaking at a meeting of leading textile exporters at the office of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, Khan said that the government has stepped up efforts to boost national exports and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is doing its best to release all pending sales tax refund claims of textile exporters within the mandatory period.

Majority of pending refund cases have been resolved, however, sales tax claims of Rs3 billion are still pending at the RTO, he added.

Regarding special excise duty (SED) refunds, Khan said that pending cases were being cleared and only 288 claims of Rs193 million remained unprocessed. He assured clearance of these refunds within the shortest possible time.

All refund claims were released on first-come-first-served basis in a transparent manner, he added. A complaint cell has also been set up at the RTO to facilitate exporters, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2011.