FAISALABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin has assured All Pakistan Bedsheets and Upholstery Manufacturers Association (APBUMA) that notification regarding Duty drawback on Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) would be issued within a week which would be effective from July 01, 2021.
Talking to a delegation of the APBUMA headed by its chairman Arif Ihsan Malik, he said that it would ensure clearance of pending DLTL claims amounting to Rs. 25 billion. He further said that the issue pertaining to the refundable claims of sale tax deferred under section 66 and missing amount would also be resolved to mitigate the financial sufferings of the SME.
He directed the FBR and State Bank of Pakistan to have an immediate meeting with APBUMA to discuss their genuine issues and resolve the same on the top priority basis. He said that he would also have another feedback meeting after three weeks so that these issues could be resolved on a permanent basis.
Arif Ihsan Malik explained in detail the issues confronted by the SME sector under the platform of APBUMA. He demanded that it is the largest elected trade body representing the SME sector but its representation in policy making is negligible.
Arif Ihsan demanded that APBUMA may be given due representation in all export related Boards, Forums and SMEDA. He said that State Bank should also allocate a sizable chunk of loans for SME with proper monitoring to facilitate this sector. He said that collateral free loans up to Rs. 20 million may be provided to the SME sector at a minimum mark up rate. He also demanded simplification of import schemes so that SMEs could take full advantage of imports for export purposes.
He said that Pakistan Single Window (PSW) was launched to facilitate the exports but it has developed some operational faults which must be removed on top priority basis. He further said that the national sales system under FASTER is not working properly and hence the refund claims pertaining to the month of December have also been delayed.
He expressed concern that the State Bank has trimmed the repatriation period of foreign proceeds from 180 to 120 days. “It is causing multiple problems for the small exporters”, he said and added that the repatriation period may kindly be restored to 180 days. Similarly, he also demanded that FBR may kindly be directed for the refund of long delayed withholding tax.
During this meeting Imran Mahmood Sheikh senior vice president Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & industry and Engineer Bilal Jamail were also present.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.