FASTER-Plus launched for speedy refund release

Upgraded system will ensure no refund claim remains stuck

FAISALABAD:

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member IR (Operations) Dr Muhammad Ashfaq has said that an upgraded version of the Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refund (FASTER) system has officially been launched for expeditious, transparent processing and issuance of exporters’ refund claims.

Talking to members of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) on Saturday, Ashfaq said the new upgraded system - FASTER-Plus - would ensure that all refund claims were processed and no refund claim was stuck at the pre-processing stage.

Highlighting core developments, the FBR member stated that a new dashboard had been activated at the FBR’s e-portal for viewing the stage-wise update about refund claims without contacting any officials of the FBR or Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (Pral).

A mobile app to enable a sales tax refund claimant to view the status of his claim at each stage of processing has been made part of the FASTER-Plus system.

Responding to the issues raised by textile exporters about tax refund processing, the member IR (operations) informed them that the release of pending income tax refunds beyond Rs50 million would start soon as the FBR aimed to clear the backlog by the end of current fiscal year.

He pointed out that necessary instructions for payment of deferred claims and clearing cases under Section 66 had already been given to the circles concerned.

Answering a question, Ashfaq said commercial exporters were a very important part of the economy and to streamline their refund payments, the FBR was working with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2020.

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