FTO improves mechanism for deciding complaints against tax officials

Tariq Ahad Nawaz, Advisor to Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has said that we have improved the mechanism of processing and deciding complaints against tax officials for providing quick relief to the complainants, a senior official said on Saturday.

While speaking to a seminar organized by Rawalpindi Islamabad Tax Bar Association (RITBA), he said that the time of deciding a case has been reduced from 46 days to 40 days in one year which will be reduced further with the help of stakeholders.

He also stressed on the issue that a lack of coordination between federal and provincial tax authorities is resulting in disputes and litigation while the different software being used by tax departments are not properly integrated.

During question and answer session, lawyers said tax officials have no regard or respect for the directives of FTO as seeking the help of Ombudsman results in more harassment like notices of previous years and other tactics.

The tax experts also noted that FBR should be depoliticised and powers of its intelligence department should be curtailed to avoid harassment of the business community to encourage compliance.

Holding back refunds is counterproductive as the economy should not be damaged for the sake of a false impression of improved revenue collection, they said.