LAHORE: The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Prgmea) has called for giving special status to export-oriented, value-added textile industry by allowing it zero-rating facility, in order to attract new investment and revive economic growth.

“The value-added textile sector should be given special status through its separation from other textile chains as it is generating more employment and more revenue,” Prgmea Chairman Ijaz Khokhar said in a statement on Saturday.

He said that more than 30 per cent working capital of the textile sector was stuck-up under refund regime, because several incentives announced in the budget 2014-15 — including ‘rationalisation of refund regime’ and ‘complete settlement of all outstanding refund claims till 2014’ — could not be implemented.

“‘No Tax, No Refund’ formula should be applied to value-added textile chain by including it in zero-rated regime in order to get rid of liquidity crunch,” he added.

He asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to evolve a mechanism to eliminate liquidity problems of refund claimants and frivolous litigation pertaining to refunds.

Sales tax refund should be processed in minimum possible time in a transparent manner and the FBR should streamline the entire refund verification and sanctioning process to facilitate the export-oriented sector, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2015

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