Venting: APTMA demands payment of sales tax refunds

Growth impossible with energy and liquidity constraints.

LAHORE:

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab Chairman S M Tanveer has urged Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to direct the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to meet the deadline of liquidating the sales tax refunds of the textile industry by September as per his pledge in the budget speech.

Despite the fact that the industry is being treated under the Reduced Rate Regime,  a total of Rs20-25 billion Sales Tax refunds of the textile industry are stuck up with the FBR for over six years. About Rs50 million per textile mill is payable on account of special excise duty, deferred and current/regular refund claims.

“Textile industry is an export-oriented industry, facing acute energy shortage, particularly in Punjab,” said Tanveer. “The industry is unable to exploit the potential of market access facility from the EU under the GSP Plus facility, as liquidity as well as energy constraints are hampering its growth badly. Majority of mills are operating on two shifts.

“The industry will also not be able to procure cotton due to the prevailing circumstances, therefore, the government should expedite the processing of refund claims of textile industry.”

Tanveer has appealed to the FBR to direct the Regional Tax Offices as well as the Large Taxpayer Units to start processing the refund claims to meet the September 2014 deadline.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2014.

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