ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has announced that the government will disburse Rs 25 billion sales tax refunds within a week.
Addressing a press conference, the minister said that the government would clear all sales tax refunds of up to June 30, 2016, within next seven days and the amount worth of Rs 25 billion would be directly dispersed online to the accounts of the recipients.
Dar said that, pursuing the promise made by the prime minister, due process has been completed for issuance of sales tax refunds for Refund Payment Orders (RPOs) issued up to June 30, 2016. He said that the refunds would be disbursed through new system in order to save time of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the recipient and to ensure transparency.
He said that, for the first time-ever, these refunds will be paid directly into the accounts of the refund recipients. He said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is making the necessary arrangements in this regard. He also stated that a focal person has been nominated at FBR for the refunds. He said that all complaints in delays or difficulty in obtaining these sales tax refunds can be addressed to FBR focal person at [email protected].
“The government is paying the amount from the divisible pool,” he confirmed. He also informed that the government would present ‘The Draft of Companies Bill 2016’ in federal cabinet today (Tuesday) for approval and would be presented in the next session of the National Assembly for legislation. He said that the government has finalised the bill with the consultations of the stakeholders. The bill would also deal with the offshore companies, he added.
Dar said the government had already disbursed refunds worth of Rs 21 billion in August this year.
Earlier, the government had decided to borrow money from banks to pay over Rs200 billion tax refunds. However, its plan met opposition from the International Monetary Fund and other stakeholders who opposed the idea to retire funds by borrowing money.
