LAHORE: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) remanded back a tax refund appeal filed by Proprietor Amir Sohail Traders against the Regional Tax Office (RTO-II) Lahore.
During the proceedings of the case, 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 that the RTO-II had been collecting excessive taxes from the company during the past 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 fall 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 audit of the case and release the extra amount collected from the taxpayer.
On the other hand, counsel for RTO-II argued that the appellant has not submitted all the record in the office for claiming refunds. If appellant provides the accurate record, the RTO-II will release refunds after a proper assessment, he maintained.
After hearing arguments from both sides, advisor for FTO Mian Munawar Ghafoor has directed the Regional Tax Office-II (RTO-II) to hear the party again, examined the record and decide the case according to the customs bylaws. If refund appeal is correct then make sure that the amount is paid to the taxpayer, he asserted.
