ISLAMABAD, April 15: The tax authorities have paid out Rs49.739 billion refund/rebate to exporters during the July-March period of the current financial year against Rs49.895 billion it paid the same period last year, showing a decline of 0.31 per cent.

Official figures released by Central Board of Revenue (CBR) here on Thursday showed that the payment of sales tax refunds registered a growth during the period under review over the same period of last year. However, payment of rebate to exporters declined due to rationalization of duty drawback rates.

Further break up showed that the tax authorities paid out Rs39.361 billion as sales tax refunds during the period against Rs35.148 billion the same period last year, showing an increase of 12 per cent. However, payment of customs rebate to exporters declined by 29.6 per cent to Rs10.378 billion against Rs14.747 billion the same period of the last year.