The Punjab regional chapter of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has requested Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar to direct the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to start processing the sales tax refund claims of textile mills, and adhere to the September 2014 deadline of liquidating the sales tax refunds pledged by him in his Budget Speech 2014-15.
About Pk Rs. 20-25 billion are stuck up with the FBR for more than six years, and an average of Rs. 50 million per textile mill is payable on account of special excise duty, as well as deferred and regular refund claims, APTMA Punjab chairman SM Tanveer said.
The large sum is stuck up with the FBR despite the fact that the textile industry is falls under the reduced rate regime.
The textile industry in Punjab is facing liquidity as well energy constraints, which is hampering the growth of the export-oriented industry, Mr. Tanveer said. He added that the industry is unable to take full benefit of the duty-free market access provided by the EU under its Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP Plus) facility, due to the continuing energy shortage and liquidity crisis.
Majority of the textile mills are currently operating on two shifts, and in the prevailing circumstances it would be difficult for the industry to buy cotton, Mr. Tanveer said.
He urged the FBR to direct the Regional Tax Offices as well as the Large Taxpayer Units to begin processing the refund claims to meet the September 2014 deadline.
Source:
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=165995
