ISLAMABAD, March 13: The tax authorities paid out Rs42.22 billion refund/rebate to exporters during the July-February period of the current financial year against Rs44.45 billion during the same period last year, showing a decline of 5.02 per cent.

According to official figures released by Central Board of Revenue (CBR) here on Saturday, the payment of sales tax refunds registered an increase of 5.6 per cent during the period under review over the same period last year.

However, the payment of rebate to exporters declined by 30 per cent during eight months this year over the same period last year.

On monthly basis, the payment of sales tax refunds to exporters declined by 36.7 per cent during the February 2004 against Rs2.79 billion over the same month of last year. The payment of rebate to exporters also declined by 36.6 per cent to Rs740 million during the month under review against Rs1,167 million over the same month last year.

Further analysis showed that tax authorities paid Rs33.02 billion during the July-Feb period of this year against Rs31.27 billion of last year, showing an increase of 5.6 per cent.

The payment of rebate declined by 31.1 per cent to Rs9.2 billion during the period under review against Rs13.17 billion during the same period last year.