The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has expressed serious concerns over the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) unsympathetic handling of complaints and hardships faced by taxpayers.
In an order issued recently, the Tax Ombudsman directed the FBR to assist employees of a school and correct errors in the Centralized Personnel Registry (CPR).
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The complainant, who was the principal of Workers Welfare Higher Secondary School for Girls in Multan, reported that Rs69,885 had been deducted from the salaries of school employees under Section 149 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for August 2020, but the tax period was incorrectly mentioned as 2019 instead of 2020. The principal’s request for correction was rejected by the Regional Tax Office (RTO) in Islamabad.
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After the complainant took the matter to the Federal Tax Ombudsman, the RTO in Islamabad stated that the principal was not entitled to apply for the correction as she was not a direct party in the CPR.
The FTO found this to be an incorrect assertion and noted that the principal was justified in seeking to safeguard the interests of her school employees, who were unable to take credit for the tax deducted due to the wrong tax year mentioned in the CPR.
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The FTO criticized the indifferent attitude of state functionaries in handling public complaints and directed the FBR to facilitate the complainant and correct the particulars in the CPR. The FBR has been given 30 days to comply with the order.
