Charter of the Economy Table 5.2: Refunds of Sales Tax Value of Manufactured* Exports 2019-20 2138 2018-19 1802 2017-18 1429 2016-17 1299 *Textiles, Sports Goods, Leather Manufactures, etc. Sales Tax Refund 93 21 71 26 (Rs in Billion) Refund as% of Exports 4.3 1.2 5.0 2.0 5.4. Ending Taxation on Movement of Goods The Government of Sindh has levied a so-called Infrastructure fee on entry into or exit from the Province of goods. This is increasing the costs of exporting and importing to production and marketing entities in the rest of Pakistan. This fee can be interpreted as a violation of the spirit of the Federation which implies unrestricted and free movement of goods among Federating Units. This matter should be taken up by the Council of Common Interests and resolved. Other proposals for greater ease of doing business are as follows: The process of enforcement of contracts: can be managed better through the establishment of formally recognized fora for purposes of acting as an Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism within the legal system. A maximum time may be specified for resolution of the issue related to enforcing of a contract. Quicker Access to electricity: Prior to 2015-16 there was a severe shortage of electricity generation capacity and high levels of power load shedding. Now there is large excess capacity and new consumers should be welcomed. A digital application system should be put in place by the DISCOs. Paying Taxes should be simplified: Efforts are being made to reduce the number of returns to be filed. It would be a big breakthrough if the same return is used for paying the sales tax on goods and services. This will not only help in reducing compliance costs but would also enable detection of more tax evasion. Further, the payment of advance income tax by small private companies and AOP may be shifted from monthly to quarterly filing. Also, tax and non-tax payments should be digitized. Problems of Access to other Infrastructure: Today many of the industrial estates are in a rundown condition, especially in the economic hub of Karachi. Roads are broken and water supply and availability of gas are limited. This has contributed to raising costs of operations of industrial units. 46