LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Board of Revenue to release all pending refund claims at the earliest as the businesses are facing serious shortage of capital to run their businesses.

In a statement, LCCI acting president Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and vice-president Haris Ateeq said that the business community has paid a huge price to the Covid-19 and still struggling to come out of the shocks of this crisis.

They said that the delay in release of pending claims is hampering growth of the most productive sectors. They said that the delay in refunds has triggered serious liquidity crunch for the exporters and manufacturers that might lead to closure of several industrial units.

The LCCI office-bearers said the authorities concerned should take realistic view of the matter and allow the refunds of sales tax and income tax to the exporters and manufacturers at the earliest, who were facing severe hardships.

They said that the process to get refunds is so lengthy and cumbersome that sometimes takes months for a manufacturer or an exporter to get his own money refunded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022