High-ranking officials from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Policy Inland Revenue have made a surprising admission to the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO). They confessed that the tax return system for the Tax Year 2023 is inaccurately calculating tax liabilities for pensioners, senior citizens, and members of Shuhada families.
This revelation emerged during a hearing at the FTO’s office, where Member Policy officials were summoned to address concerns raised by tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt. He had reported discrepancies in tax calculations for pensioners and senior citizens.
During the hearing before Adviser FTO Naseer Butt, officials acknowledged that a flaw in the tax return calculation mechanism was responsible for the incorrect tax liability assessments in this specific group.
Earlier, a complaint was filed by a retired senior Army officer through tax lawyer Shahzad Butt. The FTO’s office had issued notices to the secretary of the Revenue Division and FBR Members to investigate allegations of maladministration. They were tasked to find out why the FBR’s system was miscalculating income tax liability and incorrect rebates for pensioners, senior citizens, and members of Shuhada families for the tax year 2023.
According to Waheed Butt, FBR Policy Wing is under scrutiny for failing to effectively address the issue of tax reduction on the yield from Behbood Certificates, Pensioner’s Benefit Account, and Shuhada Family Welfare Account, coded as “930101” in the FBR’s income tax return for the Tax Year 2023.
The flawed tax calculation has caused distress among pensioners and senior citizens who rely on fixed retirement incomes. The incorrect tax liability calculations have burdened these individuals financially, as their tax obligations were higher than they should have been.
Waheed suggested that Member Policy should apologize to pensioners, senior citizens, and Shuhada families for their professional negligence. He also emphasized the importance of promptly returning any illegally collected extra tax due to faulty tax returns.
Despite the FBR’s responsibility to ensure fair taxation, it has become evident that pensioners, senior citizens, and members of Shuhada families are being denied their rightful tax reduction entitlements.