Islamabad has taken a major step to ease the difficulties faced by exporters, with new Exporter Facilitation Committees established in all major cities to resolve disputes and address operational and refund-related issues.
The initiative was launched by Member Inland Revenue (IR-Operations) Zubair Bilal, with the goal of resolving exporters’ concerns through consultation and regular engagement, rather than litigation. The committees are also expected to handle day-to-day operational issues, reducing the friction that has long defined the relationship between exporters and the tax department.
According to an official notification, the committees have been constituted in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sialkot, with the explicit aim of facilitating exports, resolving disputes amicably, and ensuring exporters are not subjected to harassment by tax officials. They are designed to function as forums for facilitation, mediation, and dispute resolution, promoting voluntary compliance, reducing unnecessary litigation, and encouraging fair, transparent tax administration.
Each committee will examine problems stemming from procedural and day-to-day field operations that affect exporters, flagging issues for review and resolution in monthly meetings. In cases warranting audit or other coercive action, the relevant facts will be presented to the committee, which will decide by majority vote among at least three members. In the event of a tie, the committee chairman will issue a short order to resolve the matter, subject to periodic review by the Board.
For the purposes of this framework, an exporter is defined as any entity exporting 80 percent or more of its turnover in a given tax year.
The central committee will be chaired by Zubair Bilal, alongside members including Zubair Motiwala, former chairman of TDAP; Musadaq Zulqarnain, chairman of Interloop Ltd.; Muhammad Javed Balwani, former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce; the relevant Chief Commissioner-IR with jurisdiction over each case; and Arshad Nawaz Cheena, Chief of Revenue Operations, along with the president of FPCCI serving as an ex-officio, non-voting member.
