January 12, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1423

KARACHI, Jan 11: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has urged the adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Aziz to personally intervene and expedite the payment of overdue sales tax refunds and that a separate system of refund for the textile industry be introduced.

The textile industry have to face acute liquidity problem throughout the year for the sales tax refunds against its raw cotton purchases made during first three months of a cotton season.

The central managing committee of Aptma, which met here on Saturday, under the chairmanship of Anjum Saleem, chairman Aptma, took serious note of the pending issue of a long delay in payment of overdue sales tax refund.

The Aptma members expressed grave concern over huge amount of sales tax overdue refunds amounting to around Rs3 billion. Long delay by CBR in release of refunds has become the most serious impediment for the textile industry and its exports, the participants to the meeting noted.

The textile members felt deeply frustrated on the continuing apathy and indifferent attitude of the sales tax department towards resolving this severe problem of overdue sales tax refunds which has become the biggest hurdle in the operations and exports of textile industry.

Time and again, chairman Aptma has represented to CBR that as per nature of its operations, the textile mills buy cotton for the whole year during the first three months of the season. As such, their operating funds are stuck up in purchase of cotton and payment of sales tax thereon.

The textile mills pay sales tax for the whole year in the first three months while as per practice and policy of the CBR, the industry is put up by the CBR in the general queue for refunds together with the people who pay sales tax on monthly basis.

The meeting noted that this unjust system unduly penalizes the taxpayers of the textile industry. The sales tax is paid by the textile mills for the whole year in the first three months, while the sales tax refunds are allowed by CBR on an average after 12 months. Due to this undue delay, the textile industry is made to face several liquidity problems adversely affecting their operations and exports.