ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Hafeez Shaikh on Thursday directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to make payment of all income tax refunds up to Rs50 million within two weeks.

Chairing a meeting at the Ministry of Finance, the adviser urged for a clear roadmap and strategy that maybe adopted for the payments of remaining refunds.

A total amount of Rs40 billion would be spent to pay off all income tax refunds fall in the category up to Rs50m.

The meeting was atten­ded by Minister for Ind­us­tries Hammad Azhar, Min­i­s­ter for Power Omar Ayub Khan, Adviser on Com­mer­­ce Razak Dawood, Special Assistant on Petroleum Na­­d­eem Babar, Chairman Na­­tional Assembly Stan­d­ing Committee on Finance Faiz­­ullah Kamoka and Cha­ir­­man FBR Javed Ghani. Businessmen from different parts of the country atten­ded the meeting via video link.

“The government has a clear policy that all tax refunds, whether fresh or old, should be paid back without any excuse,” the adviser said.

An official announcement, quoting Dr. Shaikh said that the government paid tax refunds to the tune of Rs140bn last year, nearly double than the amount of refunds paid in FY19.

Similarly, the government had also started payment of income tax refunds, starting with payment of refunds up to Rs18m in the first phase. The press release said that income tax refunds of Rs 50m will be cleared in the next phase which would be completed within the next two weeks.

The meeting also discussed issues pertaining to the allocation of power and gas subsidy to zero-rated and export sector.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2020