Sales tax refund claims to be cleared by 28th Feb, says Afridi
The Federal Minister for Textile Industry Abbas khan Afridi presided over a meeting on issues of textiles sector with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The minister stressed that it was a national obligation to bail out textile industry from cash flow crunch and release the stuck up claims on priority basis as textile exports account for more than 55 % of foreign exchange. Secretary MINTEX, Chairman FBR, Member IRS and textile representa- tives attended the meeting.
FBR chairman Tariq Bajwa apprised the minister that RPOs worth 8 billion have already been issued for the period July, August and September.
Claims worth 14 billion are classified as deferred payments on account of some deficiencies, whereas claims worth 8.2 billion have been freshly filed. Further, all the deferred claims would be disposed off before 28th Feb, 2015 and necessary instructions have already been issued.
Chairman highlighted
that from July 2014 to January 2015, 14 billion refund claims of the textile sector have already been paid against Rs. 8 billion in corresponding period of last year. He assured that the refund claims till October 2014 would be cleared before the deadline.
Representatives from the textile sector praised Textile Minister and chairman FBR for their cooperation. They highlighted that delay in payments is the one of the main issue that keeps hindering their business cycle and requires immediate attention.
It was agreed to make the payment procedure more swift and speedy. Minister was apprised that special excise duty has already been addressed. Minister was requested to look in to the issue of duty draw back claims that remain pending from December 2013.
The Chairman assured that he will look into the matter and would inform accordingly. To further streamline the payments, the Minister invited the stakeholders to come up with recommendations on domestic and export bifurcation and directed his team to make the procedure compliant to international best practices.