President for raising awareness on tax justice

Dr Alvi lauds FTO’s work in providing relief to aggrieved taxpayers

ISLAMABAD:

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday asked the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) to increase its outreach and raise awareness about its role in providing speedy justice to the people against the maladministration of tax authorities in matters relating to income tax, customs duties, sales tax, and federal excise duty.

The president said this while talking to Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, who called on him to present the FTO’s Annual Report for the year 2022, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Highlighting the salient features of the report, Dr Asif Mahmood Jah said the FTO received 7,000 complaints during 2022 as compared to 2,816 complaints in the year 2021, and 6,500 of them were disposed of.

The FTO highlighted that tax refund claims to the tune of Rs7 billion were decided and the due amount was paid to the aggrieved taxpayers by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

He said 78% of the FTO’s decisions had been implemented and he was personally monitoring the implementation of decisions on a daily basis.

FTO Jah also briefed the president about the important initiatives taken by his organisation during 2022.

He said an Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Redressal Cell (OPGRC) had been established in the FTO Secretariat to deal with the complaints of overseas Pakistanis pertaining to federal taxes.

A facilitation desk had also been set up for taxpayers to enable them to avail of all customs/ tax-related services and get their issues resolved within the FTO’s premises in Islamabad, he added.

The FTO highlighted that Honorary Coordinators (Business Liaisons) from different chambers of commerce and industry and other trade bodies were appointed at the FTO headquarters and regional offices to enhance its reach to aggrieved taxpayers.

He further apprised that an outreach campaign was undertaken in 2022 to enhance the FTO’s outreach across the country and more than 88 awareness sessions were conducted in that regard.

President Alvi appreciated the performance of FTO in enhancing its outreach and providing relief to aggrieved taxpayers against the maladministration and high-handedness of tax officials.