President praises FTO for resolving 8,128 cases in 2023

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) resolved 8,128 complaints related to maladministration by tax and customs authorities in 2023, compared to 6,106 complaints in 2022. Furthermore, there was an almost 24% increase in the number of complaints registered, with 8,076 complaints filed in 2023 compared to 6,480 in 2022.

The FTO has also provided a relief of Rs 17.74 billion to taxpayers in 2023 as compared to Rs 7 billion in 2022. This was communicated to President Arif Alvi, who visited the FTO Office in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, Advisors to the FTO, regional heads, and senior officials of the FTO attended the meeting. Dr Asif Mahmood briefed President about the FTO’s performance, outreach and initiatives taken for taxpayers’ relief. He informed that FTO disposed of complainants against the maladministration and high-handedness of tax officials within 60 days, adding that the average time taken for the disposal of complaints had been reduced to 44 days during 2023.

Highlighting the achievements of FTO, he stated that FTO was a public-relief-oriented organization that had provided tax relief to low-paid employees, teachers, salaried class, pensioners, and purchasers of vehicles through its decisions.

He further said that FTO was making efforts to increase its outreach and registration of cases by opening new regional offices, establishing a helpline, and raising awareness through seminars, and interactions with the business community in various cities of the country.

President Alvi said that FTO should further accelerate its efforts to increase the registration and disposal of complaints, besides increasing its outreach to taxpayers. He also called for close coordination between FTO and FBR for timely implementation of its decisions.