Field formations told to clear backlog by November 30: sales tax refund claims

The Federal Board of Revenue has directed its field formations to clear the backlog of sales tax refund claims by November 30, 2010, Business Recorder learnt on Tuesday. According to sources, this arrangement was made to implement the controversial Reformed GST, which is one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fund for stand-by arrangement.
They said the task force has been constituted under the supervision of the member of enforcement and accounting to ensure the disposal of pending claims by November 30, 2010. They further said that this task force would closely monitor the said exercise and submit regular reports to the chairman on the pace of the disposal.
Sources said the board has also directed the task force to plan and work in complete cohesion with the concerned chief commissioner to liquidate the backlog, smoothly in short time under transparent manner. They said the refund cheques of those cases, where the RPOs are compiled, would now be issued within three days. Similarly, the rejection order of sales tax refund would also be communicated to the refund claimant within 10 days.
Moreover, they said the decision was made in light of the recommendations of the international lenders - IMF and World Bank, who had expressed concern over the non-issuance of a substantial number of sales tax refunds. They were of the view that the implementation of Reformed GST, revenue enhancement, complete enforcement of the expeditious refund system, evolvement of new HR policy and effective monitoring of withholding taxes are the big challenges for board in FY10, which need to be addressed on priority basis.