Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr. Asif Mehmood Jah has said that FTO has provided relief to more than 1900 taxpayers
DNA
Lahore, May 21: Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr. Asif Mehmood Jah has said that FTO has provided relief to more than 1900 taxpayers in the last five months, which is almost double as compared to the same period last year. He said that the proposals of the pre-budget meeting convened by the FTO a few months back had been forwarded to the FBR and other concerned agencies on which progress was made. Negotiations have started with It is expected that the suggestions of traders and industrialists will be included in the next budget better than in the past. Dr. Asif Mehmood Jah said that a number of suggestions made by him for the reform of the tax system are likely to be implemented. He said that this organization is active in serving the people and is resolving the issues as soon as possible. He said that FBR has also issued SRO on the suggestions of FTO regarding reduction of difficulties in steel sector.
He was addressing a seminar on budget of FTO Central Advisory Committee at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Senior Vice President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Atiq, FTO Advisor Almas Ali Jonda and Dr. Sarfraz Warraich also spoke on the occasion. The FTO said that income tax on daily wage employees with an annual income of Rs 600,000 has been abolished. He said that more than 100 persons who had been issued irrelevant notices by the FBR had been removed from Tier 1 and directed the FBR to take action against the officers who had issued such notices. He said that they were introducing simple and expeditious solutions for registering complaints and were formulating strategies for speedy resolution of taxpayers’ problems. He said that due to the efforts of FTO, FBR has given the authority to issue exclusion certificate to the Commissioner through DG Point of C. Referring to the recent ban on imports of luxury goods, the FTO said it was reviewing the difficulties faced by importers. He is playing a very important role in the affairs of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Rehman Aziz Chan as the Coordinating Committee. On the occasion, Lahore Chamber Vice President Haris Atiq said that the confidence of the business community in the FTO office was increasing. He said that attention should be paid to the suggestions given by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce regarding SME sector. He said that steps should be taken to reduce the turnover tax. The Vice President further said that it would be a good step for the complainants to register their complaints on Zoom from where they live.
Dr. Sarfraz Ahmed Warraich told the participants that the Pakistani business community, especially shopkeepers, were concerned about the FBR’s Tier One System (POS). They have a number of concerns about the potential misuse of this set. In the financial year 2021-22, the FBR had set a target of bringing 60,000 vendors under this system, out of which barely 7,000 vendors could be brought under this system (point of sale). More than 100 complaints across the country were forwarded to the regional offices of the federal tax ombudsman. The Federal Tax Ombudsman sent his recommendations to the FBR after ascertaining the position of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Anjuman-e-Tajiran Lahore. It was agreed that this system is important for increasing the tax collection capacity but the concerns of the vendors are not unfounded. With the implementation of point of sale system, shopkeepers will not be able to do business in the market. However, shopkeepers to whom this system does not apply, will get the upper hand. The FTO stated that the implementation of point of sale system would not provide equal opportunity to vendors to do business. Therefore, listen to the position of all stakeholders before the FBR budget. And develop a system that provides equal opportunities for all to do business, taking into account their suggestions.
Participants said that the FBR has retained 100% of its powers, give us 10-15% of its powers and stop considering us as thieves. Taxpayers also want to pay taxes but they suffer from some or the other problem. The tax net can be increased by reducing their difficulties.
Manzoor Malik said that the system of FBR cannot be correct unless you punish the perpetrators of negligence in FBR according to law then the system of FBR cannot be correct. Manzoor Malik highlighted issues related to advance tax, refund, point of sale and cost of doing business. He termed the collection of advance tax as illegal and said that due to this Rs 323 billion of investors would get stuck in FBR as a refund.
