Sohail Sarfraz Published April 10, 2026 Updated 3 minutes ago ISLAMABAD: Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately decide a taxpayer’s pending income tax refund claim for Tax Year 2023 and ensure that no coercive recovery of tax demand is initiated before disposal of pending refund claims or adjustment requests. The directions were issued on a complaint regarding non-adjustment of pending income tax refunds of previous tax years against tax liability for Tax Year 2025.According to the complaint, the taxpayer had approached the tax department well within time for adjustment of refund claims relating to Tax Years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023, but the matter remained unattended due to departmental delay and inaction, forcing the taxpayer to seek relief from the Ombudsman. After examining the case, the FTO observed that refund claims for Tax Years 2017 to 2020 had not yet attained finality, as their admissibility would be determined only after implementation of the relevant appellate orders. However, in respect of Tax Year 2023, the Ombudsman noted that the taxpayer had filed a refund application amounting to Rs44.673 million, which the department was legally required to decide within the prescribed time. Despite this statutory obligation, the department failed to dispose of the claim. The Ombudsman further observed that when the taxpayer subsequently…