Newspapers advertisements do not fulfil condition of 'due notice': FTO

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), former Justice Munir A Sheikh, has ruled that advertisements in newspapers do not fulfil condition of "due notice" to the complainant.
The FTO gave his ruling while deciding a complaint against the Central Board of Revenue (CBR ) regarding non-payment of sale proceeds of the personal car of the complainant, copy of which was made available to Business Recorder here on Sunday.
In his complaint Qazi Habib-ur-Rehman, a director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had stated that he imported his personal car under the Transfer of Residence (T.R) facility on his return to Islamabad in 2004 after six years of posting abroad.
As the customs authorities did not accept his T.R application, the complainant gave his consent to auction the car and pay him the sale proceeds under the rules.
The complainant submitted that the car was auctioned on 29.1.2005, despite his repeated written and verbal requests, the customs authorities did not pay him the sale proceeds.
After examining the case in light of the rival arguments and documents presented, the FTO observed that that the customs authorities auctioned the vehicle at the end of 2005 without "due notice to the owner", and order for refund was passed on 30-07-2005 as a reaction to the instant complaint filed on 18-07-2005.
The FTO noted with concern that unnecessary delay was caused in the passage of order of refund and the officers involved for the delay and neglect fall under the definition of maladministration within the meaning of section 2(3)(ii) of the Establishment of the Office of FTO Ordinance 2000.
The FTO directed the secretary Revenue Division, CBR, Islamabad to refund Rs 2,87,408 to the complainant forthwith; and officers responsible for failing to give due notice to the complainant for the auction and those responsible for the delay be asked to explain their position and their explanation be forwarded to the FTO office.
He further directed that compliance of these recommendations be reported to his office within 30 days of their receipt by the secretary, Revenue Division.