The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to calculate net sales tax liability of solvent extraction units, taking into account 0.75 percent of the cost and freight (C&F) value of import of oilseeds by such units during 2003-2006.
The board on Wednesday issued Sales Tax General Order (STGO) to resolve the long outstanding issue of solvent extraction units, which was pending at the level of adjudication. The FBR would not allow refund/credit of input tax paid at import stage or sales tax paid against utility bills/chemicals consumed during the process of oil extraction.
The Collectorate at Multan had framed cases against the units on charges of wrong valuation of oil extracted from imported oilseeds, suppressed sales and payment of less amount of sales tax against their actual liability.
According to the procedure, a committee headed by the Collector, Sales Tax and Federal Excise, Regional Tax Office (RTO), Islamabad, was constituted to examine the issues relating to show-cause notices issued and draft contravention reports prepared against various solvent extraction units located in the jurisdiction of Regional Tax Office, Multan. The cases were framed on the basis of audit of sales tax records for the tax period 2003-2004 and July, 2004 to January 2006. The report of the committee has been examined by the FBR.
Under the procedure, total sales tax liability of a unit for the period July 1, 2004 to January 27, 2006 shall be equal to 0.75 percent of the C&F value of imports of oilseeds made during this period or as declared by the unit, whichever is higher, after deducting the output tax already paid on supplies. No credit or adjustment on account of input tax paid at import stage or that paid against utility bills/chemicals consumed during the process of extraction shall be allowed against the aforesaid total sales tax liability.
The input tax credit against zero-rated supplies/exports (if any) shall, however, be allowed/adjusted from the aforesaid total liability. Sales tax refunds, if obtained by any unit on account of excess input tax paid during the aforesaid period shall be added to the aforesaid total tax liability, which shall be recoverable from that unit. However, no default surcharge or penalty will be recoverable on this account.
The FBR has specified two different methods for calculation of recoverable tax from these units. Firstly, formula to calculate tax liability of units which have not obtained any refund, on account of excessive input tax payment, during the period under review. Secondly, formula to calculate tax liability of units, which have obtained any refunds, on account of excess paid input tax, during this period.
For valuation of oil extracted from imported oilseeds, the FBR has issued a detailed procedure for these units. In case of supplies made to registered persons, the minimum value of supply shall be the value declared by the units. In case of supplies made to unregistered persons the value of supply shall be Rs 40.30 per kg or the value declared by the solvent extraction unit, whichever is higher.
All the supplies, excluding those accounted for and shown as the supplies made to registered persons in the sales tax records, shall be deemed to be supplies made to unregistered persons and sales tax liability shall be calculated as per valuation criterion.
The percentage recovery of oil shall be taken as not less than 38.5 percent (by weight) of the imported oilseeds of all origins or as declared by the unit, whichever is higher.
For the determination of tax liability of units for the period 2003-04, the given formula shall be applied. However, the adjustment of input tax shall not be less than 15.88 percent of the C&F value of oilseeds imports made during this period and the refund on account of unadjusted input tax (other than refund of 10.5 percent admissible under SRO 335(I)/2004) shall not exceed 4.12 percent of the C&F value of imports of oilseeds made during this period. Refunds (if any) accruing on the basis of any of the above provisions of this General Order shall be inadmissible.
The Collectorates shall resolve the disputes with the units in the light of provisions of this General Order and present the same to the adjudicating authority to decide the cases of these units.
For the calculation of tax liability under the provisions of this General Order, a Committee shall be constituted to calculate the liability of each unit. The Committee shall be headed by an Additional Collector of Sales Tax having one member from the Collectorate and one nominee of All Pakistan Solvent Extractors' Association (APSEA).
The unit which fails to discharge its tax liability shall be subjected to detailed audit, and in that case, their tax liability shall be determined on the basis of parameters specifically designed for this purpose. The units which deposit sales tax under this General Order shall be deemed to have discharged their full and final sales tax liability for the tax periods 2003-2006.