Call For Immediate Clearance Of Refund Claims

Umer Jamshaid Published November 01, 2024 | 07:16 PM

Central Chairman All Pakistan Bedsheets & Upholstery Manufacturers Association (APBUMA) Imran Mehmood Sheik has demanded immediate clearance of the refund claims and said that inordinate delay in payment of legitimate refunds had badly hit the textile exporters of the SME sector

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Nov, 2024) Central Chairman All Pakistan Bedsheets & Upholstery Manufacturers Association (APBUMA) Imran Mehmood Sheik has demanded immediate clearance of the refund claims and said that inordinate delay in payment of legitimate refunds had badly hit the textile exporters of the SME sector.

Addressing the APBUMA members, he said that the Federal board of Revenue (FBR) must carve out a progressive strategy to clear the backlog of refund claims with a focus on small and medium exporters. He said that APBUMA was the only and biggest registered organisation of the SME sector in Pakistan. “Its members have limited financial resources,” he said and added that 90pc of their working capital has been stuck up in the refund regime.

He said that the government and the FBR had repeatedly assured that refund would be cleared positively within 72 hours under rule 39-F of the Sales Act 2006 but this commitment was never honored and this period has now stretched to 200 days.

He claimed that currently accumulated refunds of different categories have jumped to Rs. 328.5bn including Rs. 55bn of sales tax, Rs. 105bn of different sales tax refund, Rs. 25bn of Duty Drawback, Rs. 100bn of income tax, Rs. 35.5bn of DLTL / DLT, Rs. 4.5bn of TUF and Rs. 3.5bn of marked up subsidy.

He appealed to the government to expedite the refund process across all categories with a focus on the SME sector in view of its vulnerability in the prevailing scenario.