ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Asif Mehmood Jah Wednesday said taxpayers have filed 6,435 complaints against the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during 2022 against 3,371 complaints in 2021, reflecting a significant increase of 3,064.
Against 6,436 complaints filed against the FBR, the majority of 6,200 complaints have been disposed of during 2022.
Sharing FTO’s performance during outgoing 2022, Dr Jah told Business Recorder at the FTO Headquarters on Wednesday that the compliance level of the FTO’s orders is above 90 per cent due to constant monitoring and coordination with the FBR.
The FTO’s dashboard on online monitoring of disposal of complaints, the FBR’s compliance is being monitored. The president has given 97 per cent orders in favour of the FTO office against the representations filed by the FBR with the president.
The FTO further informed that out of 6,435 complaints, most of the complaints are related to income tax and sales tax during 2022.
A total of 6,200 complaints have been disposed of by the FTO office during the period under review.
If an illegal order has been passed by the FBR for imposing taxes, the FTO office is fully competent to take up the issue, Dr Jah stated.
When asked about the status of nine stuck-up consignments of soybean seeds at Port M Qasim, Karachi, the FTO stated that the consignments have not been released yet. The FTO has tried its level best to release the said consignments through a well-thought order.
The delay in the implementation of the FTO’s order is causing serious revenue loss including huge demurrage to the importers. Ministry of Law has also given its opinion to the FBR/Ministry of Food for filing a presentation with the president.
Under the FTO’s order, the federal government is to give immediate written directions to the secretary Ministry of Climate Change under Rule 27 of the Biosafety Rules, 2005, to issue approval of deliberate release on a one-time basis as a special case under the provisions of the Rules 20 (2) on provision of assurance and undertakings from the importers/ complainant and relevant stakeholders.
On issuance of the one-time deliberate release order from the Ministry of Climate Change, under Rule 20(2) of the Biosafety Rules, 2005, the DG DPP, Karachi, to issue release orders of the nine stuck-up consignments of soybean seeds at Port M Qasim, Karachi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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