Delay in refund claims slammed

KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged Finance Minister Asad Umar to release the export sector’s overall outstanding refund claims, including deferred claims, Customs duty drawback, DLTL, etc, which have been lying pending for payment since long, a statement said on Thursday.

FPCCI President Daroo Khan Achakzai recalled that during the finance minister’s pre-budget visit to the FPCCI head office on January 12, 2019 and thereafter on his post-budget visit to the FPCCI regional office in Lahore, he had stressed the need for an early clearance of backlog of refund claims and automatic payment within the stipulated time limit, as the inordinate delay had made the exporters suffer from liquidity crunch in meeting future export orders well in time.

Achakzai said, “There is a very slow progress in processing of the pending sales tax refunds and issuance of RPOs.”