ISLAMABAD, April 15: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Justice (Retd) Saleem Akhtar, has asked the Central Board of Revenued to immediately release the withheld refunds to complainants.

This decision was taken on the complaints of two taxpayers who alleged that the sales tax authorities Lahore did not make payment of refunds of Rs4.693bn paid by them as input sales tax.

The FTO in his order on Tuesday directed the Central Board of Revenue to reopen the order-in-original under section 45A of the Sales Tax Act.

He further said that the adjudicating authority should pass fresh adjudication orders on merit after considering all the arguments of the complainants and giving them the opportunity of being heard. The compliance report should be submitted within 30 days of the receipt of this order, said the FTO.