ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received a request from the Cabinet Secretariat (Aviation Division), seeking refund of Rs7.99 billion paid as income tax by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on the outstanding amount of national-flag-carrier PIA.
As per details, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Pakistan has brought the issue of non-payment of outstanding dues amounting to Rs22.829 billion by the airline into the notice of Aviation Division.
The CAA contended that as per Income Tax Ordinance 2001, the CAA had been asked to deposit quarterly advance tax on all the outstanding amount of Rs22.829 billion till December 31, 2013. In this connection, the CAA has already paid Income Tax amounting to Rs7.99 billion to the FBR, whereas, it did not get the actual dues from the airline as yet despite many concerted efforts.
It is further stated that CAA is currently developing capital-intensive mega projects for the future needs of the passengers. However, due to non-payment of the subject dues by the airline, the former is experiencing acute financial constraints that may have negative fallout on the development of the mega projects.
The Cabinet Secretariat (Aviation Division) has requested the FBR to refund the amount of Rs7.99 billion paid in terms of Income Tax by CAA on the amount outstanding towards airline. In addition to this, the FBR is further requested to issue an SRO to recover income tax from CAA on the basis of actual cash receipt from the airline, instead of collecting it on accrual basis. The CAA shall however pay the income tax as soon as the amount is factually recovered from PIAC. This would save the PCAA from undue bleeding of resources, Cabinet Secretariat (Aviation Division) added.
