Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday received directives to pay all outstanding income tax refunds within one week, a news source reported. Advisor to the Prime Minister (PM) on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired a meeting to review the issuance of refunds under the Inland Revenue Courts.
During the meeting, Member (IR-Operations) shared a presentation on the issuance of refunds. He revealed that a sum of PKR 90 million of income tax refunds, along with sales tax refunds worth PKR 142 billion were pending.
The meeting suggested the formation of a technical committee having representatives from the business community in order to examine and resolve refund related issues faster. FBR also received recommendation to increase public outreach and holding frequent meetings with trade associations to consider their viewpoints and issues on tax matters.
Further on the issue of refunds, FBR was directed to focus on pending refunds of both export and non-export sectors to ensure easy cash flows in the post-COVID situation. Additionally, the meeting discussed the creation of ‘refund fund’ for the dispersal of income tax refunds from previous years under all pending refunds reached liquidation.
