35 complaints against income tax officials received in 2003-04

The Director-General (DG) of Inspection (Direct Taxes), Central Board of Revenue, received total 35 complaints against income tax officials filed by business community during 2003-04. The complaints relate to the issuance of bogus refunds, misuse of powers, maladministration and corruption by income tax officials.
Official sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that 35 complaints against the income tax functionaries "are pending" for disposal, whereas 30 complaints were filed against taxpayers on charges of tax evasion.
According to Directorate sources, most of the complaints reflect allegations of corruption against tax officials, whereas inspection teams unearthed certain cases of maladministration against these officials. But, it seems that the income tax authorities failed to keep a constant check on the officials working in the field formations.
In one case, an income tax officer and an inspector of Southern Region Karachi misused the authority to issue illegal refund of Rs 500 million. On investigation, it was found that the supporting documents were misplaced. As a result of inquiry conducted by Additional Director of Inspection, Sukkur, it came out that an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax was involved in the issuance of bogus refunds. The accused officer was suspended by the CBR and the concerned Additional Commissioner conducted the investigation which proved the issuance of fraudulent refund and necessary disciplinary proceedings are in the hands of the concerned CIT. D G Inspection added that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was separately investigating the case.
DG Inspection and Audit pointed out that a Commissioner of Southern Region, Karachi was allegedly involved in maladministration, corruption and mismanagement in the allocation and utilisation of expenditure budget grant. The directorate has conducted fact funding inquiry and a report has been submitted to the Board.
In another case, an official of Peshawar Zone issued wrong refunds to various assessees by giving them excess tax credit at the time of assessment. It was alleged that while issuing the 'Demand Notices' to some assessees, the officer tampered with the signature of some assessing officers. Moreover, certain other irregularities were also committed by the officer. The directorate concluded that there was no revenue loss, but various procedural irregularities were committed by the concerned officials. The official was transferred from his Income Tax Circle to the Inspecting Additional Commissioner Office (IAC) office.
The directorate was of the view that the complaint against the official was anonymous; no loss of revenue was involved and no bogus refund had been issued. Thus, the official has been transferred from the concerned circle and no further action is required.