Ministry told to pick reputable names: FTO removes overseas advisers at foreign tax fields

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has removed all overseas advisers at foreign tax jurisdictions and requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify reputable personalities for appointment of honorary advisers aboard.

Sources told Business Recorder that all honorary advisers of the FTO office have been removed from their current position. In this regard, the FTO office has written a letter to the Foreign Office for appointment of new honorary advisers.

In this regard, the FTO office is coordinating with the Foreign Office for identification of new advisers for resolution of tax disputes of overseas Pakistanis.

The FTO Secretariat has also written a letter to Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on the said issue.

The new FTO M Zafar-ul-Haq Hijazi has also issued instructions to the FTO Secretariat that complaints of overseas Pakistanis against the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should be dealt with on a priority basis so that overseas Pakistanis do not have to face difficulties and delays.

Judicial Activism Panel (JAP) Chairman and International Constitutional Lawyer Muhammad Azhar Siddique had levelled allegations against such foreign appointments made in the past and accused the FTO of running a parallel, opaque appointment regime, appointing advisors in Canada, USA, UK, Sweden, Hong Kong, Finland, Spain and other European countries, with no evidence of advertisement, merit-based selection, or lawful authority.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026