Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr. AsifMahmoodJah has said that the economy of country runs on support of exporters and he will not hesitate to resolve the issues of Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) on priority basis.
This was stated by him while talking to a delegation of PCMEA led by its Senior Vice Chairman Usman Ashraf which called on him on Sunday and informed him in detail about their concerns regarding the Federal Board of Renovation.
The delegation was comprised of Senior Central Leader of the Association Abdul Latif Malik, Chairman of Carpet Training Institute (CTI) EjazurRehman, Major (Rtd) AkhtarNazir, ShahidHasan Sheikh, Saeed Khan, MianAtiqurRehman, IrfanAyub, AslamTahir, IftikharAslam and Aamir. Sheikh while advisor Khalid Javed assisted Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr. AsifMahmoodJah.
Usman Ashraf and Abdul Latif Malik apprised the FTO about problems faced by carpet industry and said that the industry of handmade carpets was the largest cottage industry spread in different parts of the country. They further informed that from here, the raw materials were sent to Afghanistan and after partial processing, they were brought back through the Torkham border which was later totally exported after final preparation.
“We demand that commercial importers, like registered exporters, should be exempted from taxes and customs duties on semi-finished raw materials returned via Torkham and the recovery of sales tax will not be affected by this relief to commercial importers, we are ready to write down and refund the sales tax on the value,” they added. They said that due to duties, our exports become expensive and we were out of competition in the global markets.
The delegation also informed the Federal Tax Ombudsman in writing about other issues including imposition of fines without show cause and delay in issuing refunds by FBR. The delegation said that providing relief to commercial importers on the pattern of registered exporters would not only boost the ailing handloom carpet industry, rather, the volume of valuable foreign exchange will also increase many times, which the country desperately needs at this time. Dr. AsifMehmoodJah welcomed the delegation on arrival at the Regional Office and informed that the Federal Tax Ombudsman has issued refunds of 17 billion rupees pending for many years in two years and the aim of this forum is to provide speedy justice without any cost and we decide the cases within two months.
The Federal Tax Ombudsman directed the concerned staff to include the representative of the Carpet Association in the advisory committee of the Federal Tax Ombudsman, saying that there are clear instructions that the people whose applications will be heard in the Federal Tax Ombudsman cannot be served with any kind of notice during this time and their audit cannot be opened.
Vice Chairman of Carpet Association Usman Ashraf also presented souvenirs to Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr. AsifMahmoodJah on this occasion.
