FTO to form body to redress tax complaints

Abdur Rauf Chaudhry, Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) on Saturday said that business community was playing an important role in the economic development of the country and he would constitute a Committee comprising representatives of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and FTO to redress complaints of taxpayers for providing them speedy justice.
He said this while expressing his views at ICCI. He assured that he would take up the highlighted issues of business community with Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for remedial measures. He said powers of FBR's intelligence department were needed to be curtailed to remove the element of harassment in the business community.
Highlighting the initiatives of his organization, he said that Federal Tax Ombudsman was established in 2000 to address tax complaints of aggrieved taxpayers. He said FTO normally received 1500-2000 complaints and 90 percent of them were decided in favour of aggrieved parties.
He said 8 regional offices of FTO were working in various cities and more offices were in the pipeline to provide inexpensive and speedy justice to the aggrieved taxpayers. He was hopeful that the proposed committee would be effective in addressing key tax complaints of business community.
In his welcome address, Khalid Iqbal Malik, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that taxpayers were making useful contribution to the revenue generation of the country and it was the need of the hour that government should take policy measures to make tax collection system simpler and easier. He appreciated Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) for agreeing to form a joint Committee and hoped that it would be helpful in addressing tax grievances.
He said FTO has reconstituted its Advisory Committee which was laudable and emphasized that periodic meetings of said committee should be called on regular basis to sort out the issues of taxpayers. He was of the opinion that ensuring affordable and speedy justice to the aggrieved taxpayers would facilitate the growth of business activities and encourage investment in the country.
Khalid Malik Senior Vice President, Tahir Ayub, Vice President ICCI, Khalid Javed, Tariq Sadiq, Mian Shaukat Masud, Sanaullah Khan, Khalid Chaudhry, Mian Waqas and others also spoke at the occasion and highlighted the issues that needed the attention of FTO.