The refund claims of income tax and customs duty have shown rising trend during 2010-2011, says FBR latest quarterly report. According to the report, the FBR has undertaken a revolutionary step by setting up a Centralised Sales Tax Refund Office (CSTRO) in the FBR headquarters during current fiscal with focused attention on liquidating all pending sales tax refunds (which are around 39 percent of the total refund claims) and timely issuance of current claims.
This step will resolve the liquidity issues of the taxpayers and will ultimately accelerate the on going economic activities in the country. Approaching the issue in a holistic manner it is clear that there has been 34.1 percent growth in the total refunds payments. The reason is that, refund arrears related to the stuck up amounts are now being cleared expeditiously. Similarly, to clear the large backlog, the sales tax pendency is also being liquidated promptly but will take more effort to completely clear the deck. The refund claims of income tax and customs duty are also increasing and being paid promptly.