Hafeez Shaikh tasks FBR to ease tax related process of textile industry

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has directed the FBR to take input and suggestions from the textile exporters and simplify the H-Form within a week to ease and expedite the processing and payment of Sales Tax (ST) refunds to textile exporters.

He gave the instruction during a meeting with the office-bearers and members of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA). Adviser to Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms & Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industry and Production Abdul Razak Dawood, Chairman Task Force on Textile Ali Habib, FBR Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi, former finance minister Shaukat Tareen and Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran Baloch were also present among others.

Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh told the exporters that the government was not at all interested in keeping their money held up for any length of time and the government was willing to listen to and accommodate any solution or recommendations from the exporters to simplify the H-Form and ensure a prompt payment of sales tax refunds to them.

He also directed the FBR to expedite the payment of nearly Rs10 billion worth of customs duty drawback to the exporters. Shabbar Zaidi told the meeting that FBR had so far received claims for sales tax refunds to the tune of Rs10.14 billion pertaining to the period from July to October 2019 and cases amounting to Rs8.02 billion had already been processed for payment out of which 1604 cases has been accepted for payment which would be made at the earliest.

Earlier, the APTMA leaders and members told the Adviser they were happyand satisfied with the documentation drive of the government and wanted to process their claims for Sales Tax refunds through the newly-introduced Form-H. They had formulated recommendations to simplify the Form-H in view of certain problems being faced by them in filling out the form.