Tax ombudsman office to continue
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Doulot Akter Mala
The government has backtracked from its move to abolish the office of tax ombudsman in a bid to keeping irregularities and corruption by taxmen in check.
There was a move to scrap the tax ombudsman's office from the next fiscal when the ministry concerned expressed doubt about the usefulness of the office.
But in the budget for next fiscal, allocation for the office has been increased over that of the outgoing fiscal.
"Weak laws are the major obstacles to the tax ombudsman office playing an effective role to check corruption by tax officials," tax ombudsman Khairuzzaman Chowdhury told the FE Wednesday.
There is no instruction on implementing the recommendations of tax ombudsman in the income tax, Valued added tax (VAT) and customs law although the tax ombudsman law can supersede 12 existing revenue related laws, he said.
The tax ombudsman can make recommendations after investigating complaints by taxpayers, but there is no provision in tax laws on mandatory implementation of the suggestions, he said.
The finance ministry has backtracked from its move after it found some useful recommendations on tax related irregularities, he said.
"The government should take the responsibility of making the office visible to taxpayers. A tax ombudsman can't move door-to-door to campaign his activities," he added.
In the annual report, the tax ombudsman's office has pointed out some key issues for its ineffectiveness since 2005.
The government has backtracked from its move to abolish the office of tax ombudsman in a bid to keeping irregularities and corruption by taxmen in check.
There was a move to scrap the tax ombudsman's office from the next fiscal when the ministry concerned expressed doubt about the usefulness of the office.
But in the budget for next fiscal, allocation for the office has been increased over that of the outgoing fiscal.
"Weak laws are the major obstacles to the tax ombudsman office playing an effective role to check corruption by tax officials," tax ombudsman Khairuzzaman Chowdhury told the FE Wednesday.
There is no instruction on implementing the recommendations of tax ombudsman in the income tax, Valued added tax (VAT) and customs law although the tax ombudsman law can supersede 12 existing revenue related laws, he said.
The tax ombudsman can make recommendations after investigating complaints by taxpayers, but there is no provision in tax laws on mandatory implementation of the suggestions, he said.
The finance ministry has backtracked from its move after it found some useful recommendations on tax related irregularities, he said.
"The government should take the responsibility of making the office visible to taxpayers. A tax ombudsman can't move door-to-door to campaign his activities," he added.
In the annual report, the tax ombudsman's office has pointed out some key issues for its ineffectiveness since 2005.