The head of the Directorate-General for Internal Revenue (DGII), Juan Hernández, said yesterday that in the next few weeks DGII will begin the process of refunding to exporters the Transfer Tax on Industrial Goods and Services (ITBIS) that they have paid. The Tax Code has said since 1992 that ITBIS paid on goods which are exported should be refunded to the exporters, but a regulation creating a procedure to do so was not put into place until last April. Exporters, principally through the Dominican Association of Exporters (ADOEXPO), have repeatedly decried delays in providing refunds. Hernández said that the government has been working steadily to start the refunds, but an operating agreement over details for managing the program had to be worked out first between DGII and Customs. This has been achieved, and DGII has already started auditing some firms to confirm how much of a refund they are due. DGII estimates that some RD$400 million in refunds must be paid out.
