Investors rue pending tax refunds of Rs93bn

The pending tax refunds of multinational companies operating in Pakistan have grown to Rs93 billion, up 15 per cent from October 31, 2022, when the representative body of foreign investors last took up this matter with the revenue collection authority. A tax refund is a payment to the taxpayer after it has paid to the government more tax than it owes. Businesses have routinely accused tax authorities of collecting and withholding more-than-due taxes in order to meet their revenue targets. The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) recently shared with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) an exhaustive list of tax refund claims, seen by Dawn, while demanding that the process should be “institutionalised”. “We understand the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has paid Rs208bn refunds between July 2022 and January 2023, including (a) few of our members that have reported partial settlement of their income tax refunds,” OICCI said in its letter to FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad.