ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has received 1,239 complaints against the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year against 438 complaints in the same period of 2021-22, reflecting a massive increase of 801 complaints.

FTO Dr Muhammad Asif Jah told Business Recorder at the FTO headquarters here on Tuesday that the FTO has received 631 complaints in August 2022 against 198 complaints, showing an increase of 433 complaints.

The FTO has received 608 complaints in July 2022 against 240 complaints in July 2021, showing an increase of 368 complaints.

He has disposed of 3,745 complaints in eight months of the current year. After taking charge as the FTO on 29 September 2021, he had directed his team to promptly dispose of the complaints.

According to him, the office of the FTO had its presence in seven cities when he took over last year. It has been expanded to another four cities, including Sargodha, Sialkot, Sukkur, and Abbottabad to provide justice to taxpayers at their doorstep. Besides, he said, he has appointed honorary advisors from various chambers of commerce and industry to remove the hesitation of the taxpayers in approaching the office of the FTO.

He is serving the institution over the last nine months and worked hard to activate it in the larger interest of the taxpayer. Dr Jah said the objective of the FTO was to resolve tax matters of the taxpayers.

He said there is no fee for the filing of complaint and a complainant can file his complaint in written form or through the mobile app of the FTO office. Status of the pending complaints could be checked by dialing 9386. A cost-free justice is the sole objective of the office of the FTO, he emphasised. He said the FTO is bound to dispose of a complaint within 60 days.

According to him, he has directed in the recent past that the FBR should not deduct tax on the income of daily wagers and contract employees, falling below the threshold of taxable income.

Similarly, President Arif Alvi has dismissed/rejected 81 representations/appeals filed by the FBR and upheld the orders of the FTO to treat the income of low-paid employees as salary income under section 12 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for taxation purposes.

The FTO had further recommended the FBR to:(i) ensure that hired lecturers of Post Graduate College, Bannu or other such educational institutions are not burdened with excessive tax deductions at withholding stage. While taxpayers’ facilitation constitutes the core function of the FBR, its implementation on the ground should also be visible.

When asked about the nature of complaints received by his office, he said, most of the taxpayers turn up with a complaint of delay in payment of due refunds by the FBR.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022