ISLAMABAD, May 16: Federal Tax Ombudsman Justice Saleem Akhtar has directed the collector of sales tax (West), Karachi, to decide the issue of withheld refund of a complainant within 30 days.

According to the official announcement issued on Friday, the Ombudsman asked the collector to get the invoices reverified from the Lahore collectorate within a period of one month.

He said that if the genuineness of the invoices was not established, issue a show-cause notice to the complainant and decide the refund claim within two months.

The complainant, Top Weave Industries, Karachi, has alleged that the sales tax department is making inordinate delay in deciding the claim for refund of sales tax.

The complainant has stated that he had purchased textile made-ups and paid Rs1.060 million sales tax in August 2001 and the invoices were verified by the collectorate. He exported the goods and filed refund claims on Dec 21, 2001 in the collectorate.

The Ombudsman asked the collector for a compliance report within two-and-a-half months.