The Federal Tax Ombudsman has accused officers of the Federal Board of Revenue of submitting false or misleading statements while enforcing an order of coercive measures during an appeal on behalf of an appellant, making inquiries in an investigation while complying with this order. This order of FTO, ratified by the President, orders a reprimand from FBR to all such officers who exercised coercive measures, for example, attachments of bank accounts, during the course of an appeal.
Dr. Iqbal Aujla, through Advocate Waheed Shahbaz Butt, filed a complaint against the FBR functionaries for filing a false claim under the apparent guise of waiting for an FTO judgment. Although FBR has challenged this, the President has backed the FTO ruling, maintaining that the officers should be allowed the right to be heard before taking any further action against them.
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Waheed Shahbaz Butt stated that FBR’s conduct in recovery from a taxpayer’s bank account is maladministration. He suggested that justice must be done in applying statutes and the constitutional mandate for public functionaries to act justly.
The FTO recommended that BPR give directions to the CCIR to reprimand the officer for taking coercive measures during an appeal and that the practices above violated even FBR’s own circulars. The FTO also advised that Member-IR (Operations) examine these cases countrywide and ensure compliance with the instructions so that requisite remedial action may be taken. This includes warning tax functionaries involved in violating these instructions.