FLASHNEWS:

Shahid Iqbal Baloch, Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue – Large Taxpayers’ Office Karachi, visits the OICCI

Karachi, November 24, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue, Large Taxpayers’ Office Karachi, Shahid Iqbal Baloch, accompanied by Anees Ahmed, Deputy Chief Commissioner, along with his team visited the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industries (OICCI) on November 23, 2021, to discuss taxation matters relating to assessment delays, pending refunds etc. The guests were welcomed by OICCI CE/General Secretary M. Abdul Aleem. The meeting was attended by CFOs and Senior Taxation Executives from member companies.

Abdul Aleem shared a brief introduction about our members’ contribution as taxpayers and emphasized on the revival of the regular LTU-OICCI Joint committee meetings as a milestone in building a strong, working relationship between OICCI and LTU. He also highlighted the following issues of member companies:

Delaying or non -payment of tax refunds – OICCI Members pending refund claims valued at approximately Rs. 47.2 billion (of Karachi based members, as of Nov 2021)

Lengthy and complex process for rectification in the system

Delay in retrieving submitted records from LTU record and transfer of records from LTU

Delay in non-implementation of appeal after decision in favour of taxpayer

Delay in Issuance of exemption certificates to manufacturers for import raw material and supply goods

Incorrect notices / correspondence

Digital payments implementation challenges

Jurisdiction of Distribution margin between FBR/SRB

Members also highlighted specific issues facing their organizations, such as filing limitations for recently merged companies, delays in verification of refunds, problems faced by termination funds seeking exemption certificates, and jurisdictional issue in toll manufacturing, marking an interactive session with Shahid Iqbal Baloch. He appreciated the facilitation as he expressed that person-to-person engagements were one missing link in moving towards efficient and timely issue resolution.

Addressing the issues raised by our members, the Chief Commissioner notified that currently refunds upto Rs. 100 million in value were being serviced. M. Abdul Aleem added that it is unfair to issue refunds only to business entities whose refunds are upto Rs. 100 million and not to members whose refunds are more than Rs. 100 million. Moreover, he also emphasized on settling pending tax refund claims on priority and due merit, as these long delays in settlement of refunds leads to liquidity issues and more importantly, sends misconceived signals to the Head Offices of our respective members who come from 35 different countries.

The Chief Commissioner noted these concerns and assured that steps will be taken to address these issues and informed that steps to mitigate issues related to verification of refunds and exemption certificates are being expedited. Moreover, he agreed to take up the timeline issue regarding digital payments, based on our members’ concerns, for allowing more time for complete implementation. Shahid Iqbal Baloch thanked M. Abdul Aleem and the members for their time and participation in highlighting the issues being faced by them.

For more information, contact:
Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI)
Chamber of Commerce Building, Talpur Road, P.O. Box 4833,
Karachi – 74000, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-32410814-5
Fax: +92-21-32427315
Email: info@oicci.org
Website: http://oicci.org/