Dar orders settlement of tax refund claims

Finance Minister orders the FBR to present a complete picture of pending refund cases

ISLAMABAD: After reports emerged that tax refunds had been blocked for inflating revenues, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday ordered the expeditious settlement of genuine refund claims and sought a report on outstanding refunds.

The Finance Minister passed the direction while reviewing implementation of budget initiatives, announced in July last year. He had promised with the business community that their tax claims would be settled expeditiously -an account where FBR has so far let him down.

Dar was informed that the sales tax refund cheques amounting Rs10.187 billion had been issued to textile sector on September 30, 2014, thus disposing all verified claims which had been filed by June 30, 2014, according to a handout issued by the Ministry of Finance.

However, sources say the outstanding tax refunds mounted to Rs197 billion, including Rs117 billion in sales tax refunds.

It was informed that directives had been issued to the field offices to ensure that all refund claims were addressed within three months of filing a claim, said the ministry. The minister further ordered the FBR to present a complete picture of pending refund cases.

On Saturday, Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood gave an update on the implementation status of various budget initiatives, claiming that a number of them had already been implemented and progress of various degrees on others had been achieved. Prominent among these were the formation of Tax Reforms Commission (which has already prepared its interim report), reduction in markup rates of Exports Re-finance Facility (ERF) and reduction in markup rates of Long-Term Finance Facility. He said headway in establishment of Exim Bank; and revival and Restructuring of House Building Finance Company Limited were also made.

Dar further issued instructions to hold a meeting to review an interim report prepared by the Tax Reforms Commission.

The government is bound under an IMF agreement to further lower the budget deficit to 4% of Gross Domestic Product in the next fiscal year, from this year level of 4.9%. However the ceiling may be relaxed by about 0.2% to 0.3% of the GDP, depending upon actual budget deficit at the end of current financial year, said an official of the Ministry.

Former finance minister Dr Hafiz Pasha had warned earlier this week that a tax crisis was brewing and that the FBR would not be able to collect more than Rs2.6 trillion against original target of Rs2.810 trillion.

LNG import

The minister was informed that major headway had been achieved in LNG import.

A total of 325 MMCFD of LNG will be imported from April 1, 2105, gradually reaching 400 MMCFD by the end of 2015.

Curiously, the ministry did not disclose the source of this import given that the government has yet to announce an LNG import deal.

A potential deal with Qatar has yet to be announced, restricting the import options for Pakistan.

Pakistan intends to use LNG will be used in the power sector where it will replace furnace oil for generation.

The minister expressed satisfaction on the implementation status of the 2014-15 budget initiatives and sought a detailed presentation on the 2015-16 budget framework next week as part of preparations for the next budget.