ISLAMABAD (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi Monday, while lauding the Federal Tax Ombudsman’s role in bringing ease of doing business and addressing the taxpayers’ trust deficit, emphasized the institution to enhance its outreach and adopt digitalization to address corruption, delays in disposal of cases, and bring about transparency.
Addressing a public awareness seminar on the role of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), he said the pilferage of funds and record tampering could be stopped through the use of blockchain technology.
Hailing the role of FTO for providing Rs 8.5 billion relief to the taxpayers last year, the president stressed the need for better connection between the people and the government institutions.
He viewed that cordial working relation between the FTO and tax institutions would also pave way for a conducive environment for the taxpayers.
The president said the early adoption of technology was inevitable as in some cases, the delays were intentionally made to mint money and exemplified the impediments in the procedures of customs clearance of products exported by the business community.
Calling for the reduction of human factors, the president cited the introduction of information technology in the Auditor General of Pakistan’s affairs asking the auditors to frame the charge sheet within a day to minimize the chance of corruption.
The president also cited the functioning of various Chinese banks, which operated without any office and interacted with their clients virtually.
He also asked the FTO to enhance its outreach to make the maximum number of taxpayers know the role of the organization who should consider it their own desk.
He said through various measures, the FTO was also bringing about the ease of doing business and also advised the business community to seek reduction in taxes instead of avoiding documentation of the economy. President Alvi also appreciated the provision of relief worth Rs 8.5 billion to the taxpayers within a year and advised the FTO officers to equip themselves with the knowledge of law for accelerating the resolution of tax-related issues.
He said if the nation showed its commitment to “Say No to Corruption”, no force in the world would be able to deter it from progress.
In his address, Federal Tax Ombudsman Asif Mahmood Jah said since his assuming the office on September 29 last year, 1,500 cases had been disposed, with relief granted to the business community in almost 95% of them.
He said being a business-friendly institution, the FTO was aimed at creating an environment of trust for the business community and giving due respect to the tax payers.
He said during the last five years, the FTO ensured the tax refund of Rs 27 billion. As more and more people were getting acquainted with the FTO’s performance, the number of complaints had increased to 340 in February, of which 304 were disposed of.
Asif Jah said the FTO was just a phone call away from the taxpayers, who could register complaints online through its complaint system, mobile application or even a phone call.
