LAHORE: Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) Chairman Sheikh Saqib has said that huge amounts of duty drawback and sales tax refund claims of the exporters are stuck up with the collectorates and have not been cleared despite numerous reminders issued to the Federal Board of Revenue.
PTA chairman said that the association member exporters feel it hard to continue their business smoothly in the wake of a host of challenges marked by power and gas crisis, law and order concerns, rising prices of petroleum products, etc.
Non-payment of their refund claims of millions of rupees has further exacerbated their grievances to a great extent, he said, adding that it has become impossible for them to meet the commitment of foreign buyers’ export orders. This situation is quite alarming. It is not only detrimental to the leather industry but also a colossal loss to the national exchequer, he said.
The PTA has asked FBR chairman to take notice of this critical situation and direct the authorities concerned to settle all the pending claims of duty drawback and sales tax of leather tanning industries expeditiously to get them rid of liquidity crunch and production impediments, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve the exports target set by the government, Saqib added.
