Visit of Dr. Shoaib Suddle Federal Tax Ombudsman to RTO, Lahore
VISIT OF DR. SHOAIB SUDDLE
FEDERAL TAX OMBUDSMAN TO REGIONAL TAX OFFICE, LAHORE
ON 15.01.2011
Dr. Shoaib Suddle, Federal Tax Ombudsman visited the Regional Tax Office, Lahore on Saturday 15th day of January, 2011 and addressed the officers of Inland Revenue Service. He was accompanied by Advisors to the Federal Tax Ombudsman. He addressed the officers of the Large Taxpayers Unit, Regional Tax Offices and Customs Collectorate.
Addressing the participants of the meeting, the Federal Tax Ombudsman said that though the FTO Office has to look into the issues of mal-administration, it is primarily the responsibility of the officers of the department to deal with the incidence of mal-administration. The FTO’s role is to provide support and complement this job. He emphasized that the role of tax collection is a very fundamental function of the state, therefore, the officers of the department should work hard to collect due taxes as the country is facing critical times. He pointed out that the office of the FTO is there not to harass the Tax Department but to provide support to them in redressing genuine grievances of the taxpayers.
The Federal Tax Ombudsman said that mal-administration is a colonial tradition adopted by the foreign rulers to subjugate the natives. He stated that through a good and fair tax administration the revenue collection can be increased significantly by gaining the confidence of the taxpayers. He also highlighted his achievements after his appointment as Federal Tax Ombudsman on 3rd June, 2009. He informed that all the pending claims pertaining to year 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009 were speedily liquidated with a result that stuck up refunds amounting to Rs. 6 billion have been
issued to the taxpayers. Currently there is no case which is pending for more than three months. He said that the FTO office is being automated and a full functional web portal has already been launched. Soon the taxpayers will be able to file their complaints online.
In the end Mr. Ansar Javed, Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office, Lahore thanked the Ombudsman for gracing the occasion.
