In majority tax frauds, the usual parties are the official(s) and the taxpayer(s). Cases where unilateral tax fraud is committed are rare such as using fictitious bank account(s) to obtain fake refunds. But even in such cases, bank officials are involved

It needs to be mentioned that the principle contained in Additional Collector-II Sales Tax, Lahore Vs M/s Abdullah Sugar Mills Ltd (2003 SCMR 1026) relied by Division Bench was misplaced, due to wrong inference drawn and after changes in law that are disc

In tax disputes the principles relating to stay of recovery in appropriate cases with or without condition, whether provided statutorily or as a matter of inherent jurisdiction, are well-established. The highest court of the country, the Supreme Court of

"The raison d'être of establishing special tribunals has been to dispense better quality of justice where people, better trained in particular fields and disciplines could provide quality decisions and resolution of disputes... . Appointing members to the

In response to our article (Unconstitutional taxation by provinces, Business Recorder, January 3, 2020), a letter was published on January 9, 2020 titled 'Unconstitutional' taxation by provinces: SRB's response' that raised some questions and made a few o

The passing of Foreign Assets (Declaration and Repatriation) Act, 2018, the Voluntary Declaration of Domestic Assets Act, 2018, promulgation of the Assets Declaration Ordinance, 2019 and later enacted as the Assets Declaration Ordinance, 2019 as part of F

2020 has started and apparently everyone has forgotten what the Supreme Court desired in Suo Muto Case No. 2 of 2018, started on February 1, 2018, and what happened thereafter. The last hearing in this case, which is still pending, was held on January 14,

The imposition of any kind of legislation that include levy of any tax or duty, cess etc having extraterritorial impact and involving entities operating on trans-provincial levels by any provincial assembly is patently against Article 141 of the Constitut

The Chairman of Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), while addressing a conference on 'Ease of doing business in Pakistan: a case for tax harmonisation', organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad on December 6, 2019 reported

"An unusual decline in revenue collection and steep rise in current expenditures caused a deterioration in all major fiscal indicators during FY19. The overall budget deficit during the year stood at a historic high of 8.9 percent of GDP, which was also i

The World Bank (WB), in an appraisal paper related to Pakistan Raises Revenue (PRR) has termed "vested interests lobbying for tax exemptions, internal tensions and wariness of change among the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) staff, and potential disputes a

Wholesale and retail trade sectors together paid Rs 48.2 billion: Large retail trade (Rs 7.9 billion), small retail trade (Rs 9.7 billion) and wholesale trade (Rs 25.1 billion).

An unusual decline in revenue collection and a steep rise in current expenditures caused a deterioration in all major fiscal indicators during FY19. The overall budget deficit during the year stood at a historic high of 8.9 percent of GDP, which was also

The judiciary worked tirelessly to provide justice to the people with less resources. 3,100 judges worked hard and decided 3.6 million cases in a year. Judiciary decides all the cases on merit and does not differentiate between the rich and poor-Chief Jus

In fiscal year 2018-19, total payment, as per budget documents, on account of debt servicing, was Rs 1,987 billion against the budgeted figure of Rs 1,620 billion. Allocation for the current fiscal year is Rs 2,891 billion, 78 percent higher than last yea

Prime Minister Imran Khan's address to the top officials of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on November 13, 2019 showed that his three-year-long tax reforms plan, approved on October 3, 2019, lacks proper homework, pragmatic research and solid planning. Af

The imposition of 7.5% sales tax on restaurants through the Finance Act 2019 by the National Assembly, energetically defended by the Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), is patently unconstitutional being in violation of Article 142 of the Constitu

The primary function of a tax system is to raise revenue for the governments at various levels, in the case of Pakistan, federal and provincial, for their public expenditure as well as for local authorities and similar public bodies. Thus, the first goal