Sales tax refunds: PM for making payment system 'further' easier

Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to make the system introduced by the present government for payment of sales tax refunds to exporters "further" easier.

The Prime Minister issued these directions while chairing a meeting of his economic team on Monday.

Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi briefed the Prime Minister about the measures taken for payment of sales tax refunds to exporters. The Prime Minister directed that the system introduced for payment of sales tax refunds to exporters should be made further easier? Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor Khan gave a briefing on FBR tax cases in litigation in various courts and stated that there are cases in Supreme Court, Islamabad High Court (IHC), Lahore High Court (LHC) and Sindh High Court (SHC). The meeting was told that there were 1,089 FBR cases in different courts out of which 551 have been decided while 285 are pending. In the remaining cases, either judgments have been reserved or the cases are under hearing.

The Prime Minister directed the AGP to expedite the efforts with regard to pending cases and stated that AGP would be provided all the needed resources to present the government's stance with regard to FBR cases before the court in an effective manner.

The meeting was informed that July-November 2019 figures show that there has been an increase in exports in dollar terms and increase in exports which was 6 percent in October 2019 soared to 9.6 percent in the month of November 2019 against the same period of last fiscal year.

The special assistant to the PM on energy briefed the meeting about progress in the TAPI gas pipeline project while secretary finance gave a briefing to the meeting on the status non-tax revenue. The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts towards increasing non-tax revenue.

The meeting was informed by the secretary planning, development and reforms that first quarter releases of the development funds were reviewed in November 2019 and all the ministries and divisions have been directed to ensure timely completion of their development projects.

Former Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin briefed the meeting on the progress with regard to inauguration of a 'food bank' in Lahore.