By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Monday while lauding the Federal Tax Ombudsman’s role in bringing ease of doing business and address taxpayers’ trust deficit, emphasized the institution to enhance its outreach and adopt digitalization to address corruption, delays in disposal of cases and bring about transparency.
The president, addressing a Public Awareness Seminar on the role of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), said pilferage of funds and record tampering could be stopped through the use of blockchain technology.
Lauding the role of FTO for providing Rs 8.5 billion relief to the taxpayers last year, the president called stressed the need for better connection between the people and the government institutions.
He viewed that cordial working relation between the FTO and tax institutions would also pave way for a conducive environment for the taxpayers.
The president said the early adoption of technology was inevitable as in some cases, the delays are intentionally made to mint money and exemplified the impediments in the procedures of customs clearance of products exported by the business community.
Calling for the reduction of human factors, the president cited the introduction of information technology in the Auditor General of Pakistan’s affairs asking the auditors to frame the charge sheet within a day to minimize the chance of corruption.
The president also cited the functioning of various Chinese banks who operate without any office and interact with their clients virtually.
He also asked the FTO to enhance its outreach to make the maximum number of taxpayers know the role of the organization who should consider it their own desk. He said through various measures, the FTO was also bringing about the ease of doing business and also advised the business community to seek reduction in taxes instead of avoiding documentation of the economy.
President Alvi also appreciated the relief worth Rs 8.5 billion to taxpayers within a year and advised the FTO officers to equip themselves with the knowledge of law to make accelerate the resolution of taxpayers’ issues.
He said if the nation shows its commitment to “Say no to corruption”, no force in the world would be able to deter it from progress.
In his address, Federal Tax Ombudsman Asif Mahmood Jah said since assuming the office on September 29 last year, 1,500 cases were disposed and relief was granted to the business community in almost 95% of the said cases.
He said being a business-friendly institution, the FTO was aimed at creating an environment of trust for the business community and giving due respect to the tax payers.
He said during last five years, the FTO ensured the tax refund of Rs 27 billion. Having known the FTO’s performance, the number of complaints had increased to 340 in February of which 304 were disposed of.
Jah said the FTO was just a phone call away from the taxpayers who could register complaints online through FTO’s complaint system, mobile application or even phone call.
Moreover, President Dr. Arif Alvi on Monday urged the universities to broaden the scope of their education systems by promoting virtual dissemination of knowledge in order to increase the number of graduates in the country.
“Besides the conventional brick-and-mortar system, our higher education system needs a paradigm shift to focus on online education as well to match the growing needs of the contemporary world,” the president said, in his address here at the 14th convocation of Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar.
President Alvi said by the year 2030, the world would be needing 80 million graduates in the field of information technology. In this regard, he said, Pakistan must produce graduates capable of exploiting global opportunities.
“For Pakistan, making education common for all is the key to development. Virtual education is the only rapid way to achieve this goal,” he said.
He mentioned his already launched Presidential Initiative of Artificial Intelligence and Computing as an important step in reshaping and revolutionizing the country’s education, research, and business systems through the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
Terming Pakistan’s youth bulge as a valuable resource for the country, he asked the graduates to explore the world by acquiring quality knowledge and the latest skills.
The president said the world was reaching out to Pakistan in view of its human resource and emphasized the need to tap the opportunities as per the growing demand of the international market.
Recalling Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to China as a win-win situation in terms of growth and development, he said the areas of agriculture, pharmaceutical, automotive, textile, and information technology offered vast scope for Pakistani students and professionals.
President Alvi said Pakistan was emerging as a stable State with exponential development in various fields and advised the youth not to pay attention to the statements of despondency about the country.
He congratulated the graduates on securing positions in their respective disciplines and urged them to keep working hard by adhering to the principles of morality, Islamic traditions, and national identity.
Minister for Higher Education, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Kamran Khan Bangash said the provincial government was promoting higher education by facilitation both public and private sectors.
He mentioned that skill development, scholarships, and setting up new educational institutes were the priority areas of the KP government.
Earlier, President Alvi awarded medals to the distinguished students of Ph.D., MS, Phil, Masters, Bachelors, and other associate degrees.
