Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : “The news reports appearing in a section of the press and social media regarding Tax refunds are totally baseless and concocted against the facts and fabricated”, Commissioner state-run AJK Inland Revenue Department Sardar Zaffar Mahmood Khan has categorically said.
When contacted, Zaffar told our Special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao here on Monday, that no tax refund was issued to any company after 2018 – since the AJ&K Govt. had imposed ban on the refund of tax in June, 2018 which, he added, was lifted in last year – 2022.
“Legal notices are being sent to those involved in the malicious propaganda campaign against the IRD to damage good reputation of the department whose overall annual performance of the collection of the levies and other functions have always been described by the government as splendid since its inception”, he declared while responding to a question.
Sardar Zafar Mahmood Khan continued as saying “however, despite withdrawal of the notification imposing ban on issuance of the refund, he [Sardar Zaffar Commissioner Inland Revenue] didn’t issue any refund to any company after 2018.
He observed that in fact, the ongoing malicious campaign against the department has been launched by an internal quarter within the Inland Revenue Department, who was recently removed from the office on the basis of solid evidences of the alleged corruption, malpractices and irregularities against him, he asserted.
“It will be worthwhile to mention here that a departmental enquiry is being initiated against the concerned office, who has so far been made OSD”, he pointed out.
To a question, Sardar Zaffar Mahmood Khan stated that the Department of Inland Revenue had already rejected tax refund claims of three companies, namely, Sachel, Khyber Grace & M.A Engineering.
“The ongoing move of dissemination of baseless stories and propaganda on social and a section of the print media, is an abortive attempt to divert the attention of the alleged corruption on the part of the internal quarter of the Inland Revenue department”, the IRD Commissioner said.