Daily Times

LAHORE: The office bearers of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have urged the government to allocate adequate funds in the federal budget 2017-18 for payment of refunds as businessmen are bearing huge financial cost on their own hard earned stuck-up money.

In a joint statement issued here, the LCCI President Abdul Basit, Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan said that delay in release of huge refunds, that runs into billions, has triggered serious liquidity crunch for the exporters and manufacturers that might lead to closure of several industrial units.

They said that long delay in release of refunds to the business community is hampering the growth of the most productive sectors by denying the exporters and manufacturers their right of refund of Sales Tax and Income Tax.

“The authorities concerned should take realistic view of the matter and allow the refunds of sales tax and Income Tax to exporters and Manufacturers at the earliest, who were facing severe hardships”, they added and maintained that the process to get refunds is so lengthy and cumbersome that sometimes takes months for a manufacturer or an exporter to get his own money refunded.

They further said that the businessmen have now started feeling the pinch as the businesses are already in deep troubles and experiencing toughest times because of multiple internal and external challenges including an acute shortage of electricity and gas. And now the delay in release of their own money was adding to their miseries.

They said that FBR should not withhold sales tax and income tax refunds of the businessmen to hide their failure of meeting the collection targets and expansion in tax net.