Despite the waiver granted by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) to the exporters in double refund cases, the Sale Tax Collectorate has issued notices to the towel exporters for paying back the excess amount. Towel Manufacturers Association (TMA) Chairman Syed Usman Ali has said that about six weeks ago a senior Sales Tax official announced at a meeting of the Committee formed to resolve double refund cases that CBR had finally dropped the cases of alleged double refund being pursued against some exporters.
In a statement issued here, he said that Committee members representing various trade bodies were informed that the chapter of double refund cases was closed. The announcement was also reported in the local press.
He however regretted that the deputy Collector, Azhar Husain Merchant, had issued notices to 97 exporting firms on May 9.
"This is clearly against CBR policy since neither the trade associations were consulted nor any hearings were held to establish the genuineness of the cases," he added.
TMA Chairman strongly protested against the high- handedness of the Sales Tax officials and urged relevant authorities to probe into the matter.-PR