ISLAMABAD: Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Thursday said that another Rs2-3 billion sales tax refunds will be issued to exporters in the next couple of days.

The adviser said this in a meeting with a group of leading businessmen from various export contributing nearly $2bn exports to review progress on the issues pertaining to payment of sales tax refunds.

An official statement issued after the meeting said the businessmen thanked the adviser and his team in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for ensuring payment of Rs32bn sales tax refunds.

The adviser told the businessmen that the FBR was working hard to facilitate the exporters and another Rs2-3bn tax refunds would be issued in the coming days.

During the meeting, various proposals were put forward from the businessmen and exporters and FBR was advised to work more aggressively on simplifying the processes through automation for early and prompt payment of sales tax refunds.

Shaikh informed the businessmen that he had already constituted a committee comprising officials from FBR and members of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association to simplify the Form-H within the next few days to make it easy for the exporters claiming sales tax refunds.

The businessmen were asked to nominate anyone they liked to become part of the committee as Shaikh wanted to ensure a hassle-free submission of refund claims and their subsequent payments.

FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran were also present in the meeting which was attended by leading exporters from Lahore and Karachi.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2019