Govt urged to clear verified sales tax refunds of exporters

Islamabad : Sheikh Amir Waheed President, Muhammad Naveed Malik Senior Vice President and Nisar Mirza Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry have called upon the government to clear all verified sales tax refunds of exporters before the end of its tenure as passing on this matter to the next government would cause further delay in payment of ST refunds and create hurdles in efforts aimed at exports promotion.

They urged that the government should immediately clear the duty drawback tax claims submitted till date to the Federal Board of Revenue under the Prime Minister’s export package.

They said that verified sales tax refunds of Rs.260 billion were reportedly stuck up with the FBR and the government was passing on them to the next government which was creating frustration in the exporters. They emphasized that all verified sales tax refunds should be cleared before the expiry of current government’s term that will mitigate the problems of exporters and enable them to boost the country’s exports.

ICCI office-bearers said that former prime minister had announced a trade enhancement package of Rs.180 billion in January 2017 that would expire in June 2018. They said that the commercial exporters were not included in that package despite the fact that they were making useful contribution to enhancing country’s exports. They demanded that the government should further extend the trade enhancement package and include commercial exporters in it so that they could feel facilitated in promoting exports.