Delay in tax cases: PM orders to suspend Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue

Islamabad: Taking notice of the deliberate delay in tax cases, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday ordered the suspension of Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue Islamabad and all the relevant officers and conduct an inquiry.

According to the details, the Prime Minister took notice of the Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) lawyer's request to delay the date of a case in the court.

Shehbaz Sharif said that hundreds of billions of national treasuries is subject to legal disputes, he will not accept any kind of carelessness and negligence in this regard. He is personally monitoring the reforms in the tax system under his promise to the people. ‘We have to work hard day and night to save every penny of the country and increase the revenue,’ he added.

It is pertinent to note that on April 18, the federal government had prepared to abolish the offices of Commissioner Inland Revenue Appeal.

It is reported that legislation to abolish the offices was rushed through Parliament, and cases of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue would be transferred to the tribunal.

The government document stated that 19,899 cases are pending in these 35 offices, 1158 billion rupees worth of tax cases are pending in Inland Revenue Commissioner Appellate Offices.

The document said that 71,664 tax-related cases are pending in the tribunals, the pending cases in the tribunals are related to Rs2,237 billion. At the moment, a total of 145,036 cases are pending in various courts.

According to the document, 4,236 billion rupees of tax matters have to be decided in the pending cases. 19,528 cases worth Rs740 billion are pending in the four high courts. The 3455 tax-related cases are pending in the Supreme Court.