June 23, 2002	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1423

LAHORE, June 22: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) will develop profiles of the exporters to “identify good exporters who would get 50 per cent refunds pre-audit.”

This was stated by CBR member (direct taxes) Vakil Ahmad Khan while talking to reporters here on Saturday.

“These exporters would get the balance of refunds post-audit,” he said. He said the government had already constituted a committee to look into the problems of delays in the release of refunds to the exporters. The committee was supposed to submit its report in one month.

He said the release of refunds to the exporters was delayed mainly because of the problems in verification of the claims. Besides, he admitted, the claims of refunds on stocks were also delayed. “Releasing refunds on stocks is like advancing credit to the claimants. So, we have to be a lot more careful in that.”

Khan said the CBR had released total refunds of Rs75.79 billion till May 31 as compared to Rs56.455 billion during the same period last year, showing an improvement of 34.2 per cent.

He said a sum of Rs13.877 billion had been released as refunds from the direct taxes during the current fiscal year as compared to Rs10.207 billion last year.

Against the sales tax refund claims, he stated, the CBR had released an amount of Rs35.148 billion, which is 22 per cent greater than last year’s Rs28.779 billion. Similarly, the refunds under the customs rebate had improved by Rs9.354 billion to Rs26.714 billion from Rs17.360 billion last year.

He said the gross collection by the CBR had grown 5.2 per cent in the first 11 months of the current fiscal to Rs419.34 billion from last year’s Rs398.68 billion. He said the gross collection of direct taxes rose by 10 per cent to Rs132.671 billion and of sales tax by 17.3 per cent to Rs180.55 billion. However, the gross collection of customs duties dipped by 12.2 per cent to Rs65.309 billion and of central excise by eight per cent.

The net collection of taxes by the CBR is expected to stand at Rs400 billion at the end of the year against the budgetary target of Rs457 billion which was slashed thrice because of the economic situation arising after 9/11.

Khan said the tax collection target of Rs460 billion had been calculated on certain assumptions. “While setting the target, the government has assumed that GDP growth at 4.5 per cent, inflation remains below five per cent and dollar-based imports rise during the next financial year. If these assumptions prove true, the tax collection target would be met,” the CBR official said.