New rules add four weekly validation cycles before uncleared or unverified refund amounts are transferred to the STARR module.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has amended the rules governing the Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refund System (FASTER) to revise the process for handling sales tax refund amounts that remain uncleared or unverified.
The FBR issued SRO 1498(I)/2026 on Friday under Section 50 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, introducing amendments to the Sales Tax Rules, 2006.
FBR expands validation checks under FASTER
Under the amended procedure, any portion of a refund claim processed through FASTER that remains uncleared or unverified after the initial eight validation checks will no longer immediately move to the STARR module.
Instead, the amount will be subjected to four additional validation checks, with the system conducting one check every week.
If any amount remains uncleared or unverified after completion of these four additional weekly checks, it will subsequently be processed through the STARR module under Chapter V of the Sales Tax Rules.
The amendment applies to the relevant provisions of Rule 29 of the Sales Tax Rules, 2006.
Changes also made to Rule 39F
The FBR has made a similar amendment to the second proviso of Rule 39F.
Under the revised provision, amounts remaining uncleared or unverified after eight validation checks will undergo four additional weekly validation checks before being transferred to the STARR module.
The changes are intended to provide the FASTER system with additional opportunities to validate refund claims before amounts that remain unresolved are moved to the subsequent processing mechanism.
Existing FASTER refund procedure
Under the previous Rule 29 procedure, the portion of a FASTER refund claim that was not verified or found admissible was subjected to weekly system validation checks.
A Refund Payment Order (RPO) was generated for the amount found valid during each validation check. The system then communicated details of the RPO and any objections to the refund claimant and the relevant Regional Tax Office (RTO) or Large Taxpayer Office (LTO).
The RPO generated through the process was also communicated to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for payment.
Previously, after eight validation checks, including the initial check, any amount that remained uncleared was transferred to the STARR channel.
The latest amendment replaces this mechanism by allowing four additional weekly validation cycles before the remaining amount is processed under the STARR module.
The revised procedure is expected to provide an extended automated validation window for sales tax refund claims and streamline the handling of amounts that cannot initially be verified or cleared through FASTER.