FTO orders inquiry against Inland revenue commissioner, others

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has ordered an inquiry against Inland Revenue Commissioner Fiza Batool of the Corporate Tax Office Lahore (CTOL), a subsidiary of the FBR, and others, including an additional commissioner, for allegedly abusing their powers to achieve the tax targets.

The FTO office has directed the Revenue Division secretary and FBR chairman to investigate the accused and submit a reply by July 5.

The FTO said that the FBR’s large tax offices and corporate tax offices were currently operating across the country on a functional basis and that the tax generated by the audit zones was received by the Demand Enforcement Zones.

It said that under this arrangement, determining tax liability on business transactions and charging tax was something different which was an audit function.

Read FBR orders inquiry into alleged tax fraud

According to details, tax lawyer Waheed Shehzad had filed a plea on behalf of a tax payer against the CTOL officers.

Later, the FTO directed the Revenue Division secretary and FBR Chairman to take action against Fiza Batool, Inland Revenue Additional Commissioner Bilal Hassan and Assistant Commissioner Ahmed Akmal.

The petitioner had adopted the stance that CTOL officials had misused their powers and sent notices to the taxpayers under sub clause 4 of the Section 170 of the Income Tax Ordinance while this section dealt with refunds and audit notices may not be issued to taxpayers under this section.

Sources said that officers of the field formations comprising FBR large tax offices and corporate tax offices have also been found to have misused their powers to audit the taxpayers and demand tax to achieve the tax targets for the current financial year.