FBR launches speedy tax refund process

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue has introduced a new tax refund software which will make processing faster and easier, claim officials.

The special software, called Refund Management System and designed by the FBR, allows taxpayers to receive refunds within two days of electronic submission of their claims. The new system is web-based and will allow the taxpayers to file refund claims using the same login information which is required to submit sales tax returns. Refund Payment Orders (RPO) will be delivered to the taxpayers as well as the concerned commissioner and chief account officer (CAO).

The relevant Large Taxpayer Unit or the Regional Tax Office (LTU/RTO) will arrange issuance of a cheque for the amount cleared by the refund management system within seven working days of the receipt of the claim. In the previous refund system, the taxpayers would file claims in person which required physical verification. At the launch of the software, a system-generated cheque was handed over to a taxpayer by Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue Ansar Javed.

World Bank tax advisers Paulo S Dos Santos and Wyatt Grant and Chief Commissioner RTO-II Mustafa Ashraf were present. The World Bank delegation appreciated the new system and expressed hope that the taxpayers would be facilitated.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 26th, 2010.