Islamabad, Jan 17: An 82-year-old man who had to wait for 15 months for a tax refund of Pakistani Rs 2,333, has received an apology from President Arif Alvi, the media reported on Monday.
Dawn quoted the President criticising the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for maltreatment of former government employee Abdul Hamid Khan. He said “their heads should hang in shame”.
He also directed FBR chairman to take stringent action “against the entire chain of decision-makers” involved in this cases, according to a press release on Sunday.
Dawn quoted a Presidency official as stating that Khan had for the first time submitted the requisite documents showing advance tax deduction in his telephone and mobile phone bills, along with an e-application, on October 19, 2020.
After filing several applications since then the senior citizens finally reached out to the federal tax ombudsman (FTO) for the redressal of his grievance. After investigation, the FTO ordered the FBR on June 2, 2021, to revisit the impugned order and pass a fresh order under section 170(4) of the income tax ordinance, after hearing out the complainant, as per the law.
Later, the FBR filed a representation with the President against FTO’s order.
However, Alvi rejected the FBR’s representation and upheld FTO’s order.
