FTO lauds FBR for allowing taxpayers to file declarations under tax amnesty scheme

ISLAMABAD: In response to the judgment given by the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed aggrieved taxpayers, who had paid their tax on whitening of assets in 2019 under the tax amnesty scheme, to file their declarations by September 25.

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has appreciated the decision of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), terming it a major relief to 12,000 taxpayers who had deposited due tax under the tax amnesty scheme (Assets Declaration Ordinance 2019) but were unable to upload their declarations on the last date due to the failure of the FBR’s online system.

The FTO had initiated an Own Motion investigation and later issued a judgment recommending the FBR to give relief to 12,000 aggrieved taxpayers under the Assets Declaration Ordinance 2019. The Federal Tax Ombudsman in its findings concluded that the department had failed to ensure smooth functioning of its IT system to facilitate the prospective declarations to avail the amnesty scheme by uploading their declarations on the last date that amounted to incompetence and inefficiency on the part of FBR. According to the findings of the FTO, inefficiency, negligence and incompetence of the department’s officials in designing the system, making adequate arrangements and failure to give full effect to the provisions of the ordinance amounted to maladministration.

This Own Motion investigation was initiated by the Federal Tax Ombudsman on the complaint of delegation of office bearers of the Pakistan Tax Bar Association. Similarly, during the hearing, the president of Pakistan Tax Bar Association argued that FBR’s online system was non-responsive and choked and this fact had been confirmed by the-then FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi through a statement on the electronic media.

The PTBA contended that the FBR’s contention and data regarding no fault in the system is not reliable as the declaration portal, being the first step to reach the FBR’s website, was denied due to increased load on the system. The PTBA provided to the FTO the screenshots of unavailability of access to the online system, which they had also provided to the FBR a day after the last date had expired.

However, against the judgment of FTO, the FBR submitted a presentation to President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi but he rejected the stance of FBR and upheld the decision taken by the FTO. Therefore, in compliance with the FTO directive, the Federal Board of Revenue on Friday took the decision of special dispensation allowing filing of declarations under the tax amnesty scheme 2019.

The FBR’s relief will benefit over 12,000 taxpayers who, on their declared assets, had paid Rs2.6 billion taxes to the FBR in 2019. The FBR system has been enabled for this purpose and all the taxpayers can now file their declarations between September 10 and 25. The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has lauded the decision and stressed upon the Pakistan Tax Bar Association to ensure filing of the declaration within the stipulated time limit.