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

The president expressed these views while talking to the FTO, Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, who called on him to present FTO’s Annual Report for the year 2022 at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday.

While highlighting the salient features of the report, Dr Asif Mahmood Jah informed that the FTO received 7,000 complaints during 2022 as compared to 2,816 complaints in the year 2021. He further said that 6,500 complaints out of 7,000 had been disposed of during the year 2022.

He apprised that tax refund claims to the tune of Rs 7 billion were decided and the due amount was paid to the aggrieved taxpayers by the FBR. He further informed that 78 percent of the FTO’s decisions had been implemented and he was personally monitoring the implementation of decisions on a daily basis.

The FTO also briefed the president about the important initiatives taken by his organisation during 2022. He said that 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.

He informed that a facilitation desk had also been set up for taxpayers to enable them to avail all customs/tax-related services and get their issues resolved within the FTO’s premises in Islamabad.

The FTO highlighted that honorary coordinators (business liaisons) from different Chambers of Commerce and Industry and other trade bodies were appointed in the FTO Headquarters and regional offices to enhance its reach to aggrieved taxpayers. He further apprised that more than 88 awareness sessions were conducted during 2022 and an outreach campaign was undertaken to enhance FTO’s outreach across the country.

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

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023