Daily Times

The Federal Tax Ombudsman redresses tax-payers’ complaints against tax collecting authorities. It clamps down maladministration of the authorities related tax. Tax filers usually face problems while filing tax returns. The issues that tax payers are usually grappled with include serving unnecessary notices, errors in refund, non-payments of refund , unlawful coercive recovery of tax . Along with these, tax maladministration is an incessant problem that the tax filers face in the country. However, recently, it has been reported that the overseas Pakistanis have been tremendously facing these issues pertaining to tax filing. The repeated complaints in this regard have been highlighted against tax-collecting bodies. The Federal Tax Ombudsman, thus, established Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Redressal Cell (OPGRC) to address the grievances of overseas Pakistanis’ tax grievances.

While speaking, Advisor Legal at Federal Tax Ombudsman Mr. Almas Ali Jovindah said,”The Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Redressal Cell has been redressing grievances of overseas Pakistani tax payers. The number of complaints regarding tax against tax collecting authorities have been increasing and the Federal Tax Ombudsman is redressing the grievances of taxpayers”. ”The average complaints that the FTO receives annually have increased over 7000 and the overseas Pakistanis have also filed numerous complaints to overcome their concerns and compensate them where necessary”, he added.

Almas Jovindah further added that the redressal of complaints is important as this encourages taxpayers to file their tax returns as tax is primary source of income for Pakistan, adding that, ” Overseas Pakistani Grievances Redressal Cell has also appointed honorary advisors from overseas Pakistanis community to create a result oriented liasion and connection between overseas Pakistanis and tax authorities for their issues”.

He added that Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Redressal Cell is operated under Section (20) of FTO Ordinance 2000. Tax complaints relating to Income Tax, Customs or Sales Tax is taken up with FBR or relevant tax authority. The stipulated time to redress the grievances of overseas Pakistanis’ tax problem is 30 days. It is worth mentioning that overseas Pakistanis face innumerable hurdles by the customs department when they arrive Pakistan and maladministration of confiscation of goods has also been reported on many occasions. The Federal Tax Ombudsman has been operating successfully and that eventually helps increase public’s trust in institutions.

” Overseas Pakistanis confront the challenges of buying property and assets in Pakistan and they are questioned unnecessarily by the income tax authorities and other tax bodies. This discourages them investing in Pakistan and this provided an omen for the Federal Tax Ombudsman to initiative Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Redressal Cell to overcome their tax related matters and help the Country’s exchequer increase revenue through tax and investment”, added Almas Jovindah stressing that overseas Pakistanis must approach Federal Tax Ombudsman for issues they face related to tax through official website and email at overseas@fto.gov.pk.