FTO decides refund claim of over Rs 5.86bn during 2020

Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera on Friday apprised that refund claims to the tune of Rs. 5864.94 million were decided and due amount was paid to the taxpayers by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during 2020.

In a meeting President Dr Arif Alvi, Sukhera presented Annual Report – 2020 to the President and briefed him about the performance and achievements of his organization during 2020.

The Federal Tax Ombudsman highlighted that 3,555 complaints were disposed of during 2020, as against 2,863 in 2019. He informed that 3,332 fresh complaints were registered during 2020 as compared to 2,510 in 2019.

He informed the president that 3,888 cases were processed during 2020 which also included 538 carry forward cases from the previous year. President Alvi urged the Federal Tax Ombudsman to take steps for the provision of timely relief to the aggrieved taxpayers against the maladministration of tax functionaries.

In a meeting, the president emphasized the need for creating awareness about the significant role being played by the Tax Ombudsman with regard to addressing public grievances against the tax authorities.

The President underscored the need for further strengthening the institution of Tax Ombudsman. He asked the Ombudsman to improve liaison with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which will aid in promptly redressing the grievances of the people against the maladministration of tax authorities.