Probe into maladministration charges: FBR reluctant to file comments before FTO

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is reluctant to file any comments before the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) in ongoing investigations concerning serious allegations of maladministration to indefinitely delay the refund verification process.

As per record in a rare instance of what is being described as maladministration of justice by the Corporate Tax Office (CTO) Islamabad, no response or comments have been submitted by the FBR despite written notices issued by the FTO.

The deliberate disregard of the FTO’s proceedings is being viewed as the worst kind of contempt and a blatant violation of the statutory accountability mechanism established under the law.

Tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt who is representing the case stated that this conduct reflects a complete breakdown of administrative discipline within the FBR. He urged the Prime Minister to take immediate notice of the matter.

This practice not only undermines merit and service rules but has also resulted in poor administrative judgment and superficial policy making.

The tax department is responsible for latest episodes of mismanagement, and inefficiency in case of inordinate delay in issuing the tax return forms for TY-2025, violating legal timelines and severely disrupting compliance processes.

Even the manual tax return form has not been issued yet. The playful circus with wealth statement form and timely intervention by FTO is a rare instance of inefficiency, incompetency and maladministration of justice but nobody is ready to accept the naked truth, Waheed Butt added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025