FBR’s claims of swift refund release termed eyewash

Value-added textile exporters feel financial strain, fear bankruptcy

LAHORE:

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) has said that the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) promise to instantly release the tax refund claims seems to be just an eyewash as exporters continue to face inordinate delay in the disbursement of refunds through the
FASTER system.

In a statement on Thursday, PHMA Central Chairman Shahzad Azam Khan expressed concern over the delay in release of sales tax refunds for the value-added textile exporters.

“Exporters are facing a severe liquidity crunch. It is a question of their survival and we need the help of finance minister,” he said.

“The way the government is pursuing the IMF in search of dollars, we also need the government’s help to save the industry from bankruptcy by releasing tax refunds.”

Khan pointed out that the PHMA members had approached the association, complaining they had been facing inconvenience owing to the delay in release of refunds, though the Refund Payment Orders had been generated and approved during May 2022.

He called for the release of sales tax refunds within the specified timeline as per law and rules, as any further delay would cause them financial hardship and liquidity crunch.

The PHMA central chairman said that the matter had also been brought to the attention of Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail as well as FBR officials during recent meetings with the exporters in Islamabad.

He termed the FBR’s automated system slower, arguing that nothing had changed in the new system.

He recalled that the PHMA had backed the FBR in upgrading and streamlining its automated system, which was launched following the imposition of sales tax on the textile industry.

It was previously regulated by the SRO 1125 under the “No sales tax, no refund” regime.

The FBR had claimed that it would disburse the sales tax refunds to the five major export-oriented sectors through the FASTER system within 72 hours, but even after the passing of hundreds of hours, the refunds had not been received, Khan said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2022.

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