Dec 26, 2019: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has clarified a news story titled “Textile industry irked by facts, misrepresentation,” published in Daily Business Recorder on December 26, 2019 and stated that the issue of liquidity problems due to imposition of sales tax on previously zero rated sectors was raised in the standing committee meeting.
The FBR acknowledged the issue and explained that in first 6 months, a total of Rs98 billion refunds have been issued as compared to the Rs31 billion in last year, said a press release issued by FBR here on Thursday.
Most of these refunds have been given to exporters including encashment of refund bonds issued last year.
FBR has also issued refunds through FASTER system without human intervention worth Rs11 billion against claims of Rs15 billion.
It was also emphasized that if the government on one hand has brought the export- oriented sector under VAT regime, it has heavily facilitated the sectors by providing sizable subsidy on gas and electricity despite a very narrow fiscal space available to it.
So the perception conveyed by the news item is a bit misleading and the Federal Government and FBR are trying to provide maximum facilitation to businesses in a collaborative and consultative process.
