ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has amended the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS), requiring users to submit a six-monthly reconciliation statement to prevent misuse of the export incentive mechanism to boost exports, The News reported.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 2l9 of the Customs Act, 1969 (lV of 1969), Section 50 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, Section 40 of the Federal Excise Act, 2005 and Section 237 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 200l (XLIX of200l), the Federal Board of Revenue is pleased to direct that the further amendments would be made to the Customs Rules, 2001,” read an official notifcation,
Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiani, in his X post, stated that the government of Pakistan has increased the utilisation period under the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) from 9 months to 18 months.
“This essentially means that exporters can now avail zero duty and import stage taxes for imported inputs, provided that they are used within 18 months.”
The longer utilisation period will help reduce the cost for the country’s exporters and particularly help the SME exporters. “An additional extension for 6 months, beyond the 18-month utilisation period, will be considered by a committee on a case-by-case basis.
A six-monthly reconciliation statement will help safeguard the EFS scheme from abuse,” he added.
