The International Monetary Fund (IMF) team met with the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) to probe the extent of maladministration by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials at field formations.
A delegation from the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department (Revenue Administration), led by Senior Economist Frank Van Brunschot, visited the FTO office to gather insights on its operations, particularly regarding major instances of maladministration and areas in tax administration needing improvement.
FTO officials told the IMF team that most maladministration occurs in refund processing, tax audits, and non-implementation of appeal orders against FBR. Other concerns include repeated issuance of notices, illegal tax demands, frequent raids and sealing of business premises, unlawful gratification, and deliberate delays in tax proceedings.
The FTO shared that over the past four years, it received 64,129 complaints, with 39,085 confirmed cases of maladministration, of which 32,445 were implemented by FBR, reflecting a 61% maladministration rate. For the current year (up to November 2025), 35,179 complaints were received; 24,700 were upheld, 18,060 implemented, indicating a 70.21% maladministration rate.
