FBR ACTING ON INSTRUCTIONS OF PM WHILE COMPLETELY IGNORING LAW

On March 4, 2024, FBR published a tweet stating that “On the directions of the Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, FBR issues all verified outstanding refunds amounting to Rs. 65 billion to exporters up till 03 March, 2024….. Trade Bodies and Exporters have welcomed the move by the PM & said that this will lead to economic prosperity…..”

Making this statement must have caused the FBR to feel ashamed as they are openly admitting lapse on their part to timely clear outstanding refund claims of exporters. While completely ignoring the regulatory timelines specified for clearance of refunds within 3 days of issuance of refund payment orders, FBR has proved that they act on the directions of an individual instead of following the due process of law. After delaying the release of sales tax refunds for exporters, the FBR tweeted that this is very beneficial for exporters and will increase exports. FBR is boasting about doing a favor when, in fact, these funds rightfully belong to exporters. How is delaying the return of their own money considered a favor is beyond comprehension?

Moreover, instead of encouraging diversification of exports, FBR and the Government has now been focusing on selected 5 sectors. During the term of PTI, automatic system for processing of sales tax refund of all exporters through FASTER system was launched, which used to clear all refunds on systematic basis [without human intervention] within 5-6 days of filing of refund claims, however as soon as the PDM government was formed, this facility for automated clearance of sales tax refunds was restricted to only 5 sectors. Consequently, all other exporters are now required to manually file their sales tax refund claims and get it processed manually through the tax officers [almost all of us are aware about the cumbersome procedure to get these refunds processed manually]. World is moving towards digitalization but unfortunately, we are moving backwards to Stoneage