Chief Commissioner Corporate assures APTMA of early disposal of refund claims

October 28, 2020 (MLN): Chief Commissioner Corporate Office, RTO Lahore Amna Hassan has assured Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab Abdul Rahim Nasir of expeditious disposal of refund claims, as the government is committed to sanctioning all pending income tax and sales tax refunds in order to relieve the export-related industry from a liquidity crunch, especially in view of the post-Covid economic meltdown.

She, along with other tax officials, held a meeting with the APTMA Punjab Chairman on Wednesday. A good number of other APTMA Punjab members were also present on the occasion. 

She said a dedicated cell would be set up soon for manual processing of all deferred cases with the direction to ensure that no deferred claim remains pending for more than one month and the matter is not kept hanging indefinitely. Efforts are being made for normal processing of sales tax claims by the tax authorities to avoid deferment of huge amounts by the FASTER system, she added. 

She further said that the taxpayers would be allowed to adjust their current sales tax liabilities against pending income tax refunds.

She also assured of forwarding a list of all sales tax registered manufacturers of textile falling in its jurisdiction to LESCO with the direction for not charging WHT on electricity bills of the said mills and agreed that the benefit of Clause 66, Part IV of the Second Schedule to Income Ordinance should not be subjected to any specific exemption certificate from tax authorities. 

She said issuance of exemption certificates would also be expedited to avoid undue delays faced by member mills of APTMA Punjab. She asked the APTMA members to contact Commissioner Mian Khalid in this regard.  

She agreed that undue inclusion of all buyers and suppliers of the suspected units in investigations on the detection of any case of tax fraud was causing harassment to genuine taxpayers. She said arrangements are being made to stop summoning all registered persons in cases where buying or selling was done after confirmation of being on ATL of FBR and duly complying with the procedures and requirements of Sales Tax law. She appreciated the suggestion that APTMA may be associated with assisting the tax office in a meaningful inquiry in all such inquiries.

Chairman APTMA Punjab expressed his deep gratitude to Chief Commissioner Corporate for her assurance of early resolution of tax relating issues of the industry. He hoped that this interaction would continue in the future as well in the larger interest of the country's exports, employment, and investment.