Falling behind: APTMA presses for swift release of tax refunds

Huge amount of textile industries is stuck, causing liquidity crunch.

KARACHI:

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman Muhammad Yasin Siddik has pressed the government to speed up the clearance of outstanding refund payments as committed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

While presenting the federal budget in June, Dar had stated that all outstanding sales tax refunds would be cleared by September 30 this year.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Siddik said a huge amount in sales tax refunds was outstanding for about one and a half year, which has caused severe liquidity crunch for textile industries.

“Almost two months have passed since the government last made sales tax refund payments to large textile units,” he said.

On the other hand, however, the textile sector has praised the government for clearing almost all the refund claims of up to Rs1 million of smaller industries.

Siddik was of the view that it was impossible for the government to refund the tax within the committed timeframe as procedural bottlenecks also needed to be removed.

He stressed that timely and swift refund clearance would not only build trust in the tax system, but would also help the tax authorities introduce reforms in the existing system.

“Fast-track refund rules must be put in place in the best interest of the industry and economy,” he remarked.

The Aptma chairman also pointed out that to fetch a reasonably good price for the country’s products in the international market, the consumption of manmade fibres should be encouraged by exempting them from customs duty and other taxes.

He said the reimbursement against the Technology Up-gradation Fund had also been outstanding for the last two years and about three and a half years in the case of Export Finance Mark-Up Rate Support and Drawback on Local Taxes and Levies scheme, although Aptma’s members had fulfilled all the required formalities.

He urged the government to release the funds as the mills had already recorded these in their financial statements.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2014.

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