LAHORE: Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Advisor Mian Munawar Ghafoor has heard a case filed by Proprietor Abbas & Brothers against the Regional Tax Office (RTO-II) Lahore and fixed the date of hearing with a complete record.
During the proceedings, the counsel for the appellant argued that the RTO-II had failed to release the sales tax refund to the appellant since two years. He said the RTO-II has been collecting excessive taxes from the company for the last two years.
The petitioner approached the officials concerned several times for the release of refunds, but the RTO officials failed to clear refunds after the passage of a reasonable time.
Finally, the appellant decided to approach the FTO seeking intervention in this case. The counsel appealed to the FTO advisor to direct the RTO-II to clear the refund claims.
The counsel further said that delay in release of refunds puts the burden on taxpayer, adding that the RTO-II should make an audit of the case and release the extra amount collected from the taxpayer.
On the other hand, the counsel for RTO-II argued that the appellant has not submitted all the record to the office for claiming refunds. If he provides the accurate record, the RTO-II will release the refunds after a proper assessment, he added.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, advisor to FTO postponed the hearing of the case until next date for hearing and directed the parties to appear before him with a complete record to conclude arguments in the case.