In order to end interaction between the exporters and tax officials, the income tax refunds will be directly credited into the exporters’ bank accounts through a Centralized Income Tax Refund Office (CITRO) established at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Headquarters.
The FBR has notified the process for the exporters by issuing SRO.1314(I)/2020 here on Friday.
Under the procedure, the centralized payment of refunds through cheques or promissory notes and online transfer to the taxpayers’ bank account.
The rules stated that the CITRO has been established at the FBR for centralized payment of refund amount to such claimants and from such date as the board may specify.
From such date to be notified by the board, the commissioner shall transmit an order under sub-section (4) of Section 170 of the Ordinance through IRIS to the treasury officer in CITRO under his digital signature, and retain a copy thereof for the record.
The treasury officer in CITRO and the co-signatory designated by the board in this regard shall issue the cheque or a promissory note to the FBR Refund Settlement Company Limited, as the case may be, for the sanctioned amount as mentioned in the refund order or online transfer.
The CITRO shall also prepare a statement of payment advice for the concerned bank on a daily basis, for direct transfer to the taxpayer under intimation to the CITRO, the concerned commissioner as well as the taxpayer.
The in-charge of the CITRO shall reconcile the refund cheques and payment advices issued during the month with the bank scrolls received from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and record the outcome of such reconciliation in the system.
Where any cheque is returned back by the SBP due to any reason, the treasury officer shall cancel such cheque, if required, and attach such canceled cheque with the respective counterfoil of the cheque-book, the FBR’s new rules said.
