Grievances: Efficient system in place to address tax complaints

FTO tries to bridge gap between taxpayers, tax collectors

FAISALABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Secretariat is trying to bridge the gap between taxpayers and tax collectors with an efficient system of responding to complaints, said Irshad Sheikh, Director General Secretariat of the FTO.

Speaking at an awareness session on Friday, Sheikh asked the taxpayers that they could approach the FTO Secretariat in case of any maladministration by the income and sales tax officials.

He assured them that the secretariat would immediately address the complaints and would also take measures to avoid such problems in the future.

Saying that the business community was aware of its tax liabilities, he emphasised that the FTO was striving to promote tax culture in Pakistan by facilitating the taxpayers and creating confidence in the new and potential taxpayers.

Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) President Engineer Muhammad Saeed Sheikh said the business community was contributing 60% to the total tax revenues but the taxpayers and collectors were always at daggers drawn due to procedural discrepancies.

He, however, praised efforts of the FTO Secretariat to remove the differences without adding any financial burden on the complainants.

In 2016, according to him, the local FTO office received 102 complaints, of which 91 were disposed of. "It is a great achievement," he remarked.

He pressed the FTO Secretariat to also take measures for the immediate clearance of pending tax refund claims, which was a main cause of concern for the industrialists and exporters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2017.

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