President Arif Alvi has upheld the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) decision with regard to charging excessive sales tax on purchase of Suzuki Cultus vehicle 998cc in August, 2021. The carmaker was charging 17 percent sales tax as against 12.5 percent, which was the actual rate at that time.
“The President’s order will benefit consumers all over the country who paid excess amount of Sales Tax from buyers of Suzuki vehicles,” FTO Dr Asif Mahmood Jah said while addressing a news conference here on Tuesday. FTO has disposed of 1806 complaints against the FBR from October 2021 to March 15, 2022.
Photos of a Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) invoice from late last year disclosed that the company had been charging consumers 17 percent General Sales Tax (GST) instead of 12.5 percent.
Read more: FTO orders Pak Suzuki to refund excess GST collected from customers
FBR later admitted that there was lack of clarity with regard to the definition of “time of supply” at the time of booking of the vehicle in June 2021 and that at the time of its delivery in August 2021.
Several people were outraged by the discovery and asked that the government should take action against the automaker’s misconduct. Dr. Asif Mehmood, the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), announced relief for PSMC users to remedy the problem.
According to a source in the media, the FTO claimed that his department will ensure that a 12.5 percent GST is enacted for Suzuki automobile customers. On Monday, he made the news during a meeting of the advisory committee on budget proposals.
PSMC had been delivering its vehicles late and charging the old GST rate of 17 percent, even though the new GST rate of 12.5 percent had already been implemented, according to the FTO. He claimed to have obtained compensation from the government for such customers.