ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has suffered a legal setback at the Supreme Court of Pakistan after its tax reference was dismissed on grounds of being time-barred at High Court stage, resulting in the loss of what is described as multi-billion rupee legitimate revenue for the national exchequer.
Waheed Shahzad Butt, Chairman of the Lahore Tax Bar Association (LTBA) Public Interest Litigation Committee, condemned the revenue department’s handling of the matter in the strongest terms.
He further stated that such cases represent a systematic failure within the revenue machinery where public money is sacrificed at the altar of bureaucratic negligence and indifference. When the department has five days remaining within the statutory deadline and still manages to miss it by a month, without even bothering to explain the delay, it raises serious questions about accountability within FBR.
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The order reveals a damning account of procedural failure and unexplained delay on the part of the revenue department. The reference had originally been filed on 23rd February 2017, the 85th day of the statutory 90-day period prescribed under Section 47 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, against a Tribunal order dated 5th October 2016. The reference was returned by the Lahore High Court for removal of certain objections, with the department having five more days still available within the statutory deadline. Despite having ample time remaining within the prescribed period, the department failed to act promptly. The office of the LHC granted only 3 days for compliance, yet the department re-filed the reference on 24th March 2017, a full month later. Supreme Court found this delay wholly unexplained and upheld the High Court’s dismissal, ruling that no interference was warranted: Waheed Butt added.
Chairman LTBA-PILC Waheed Butt demanded that FBR initiate immediate departmental proceedings against the officers responsible for the lapse and called upon the Federal Tax Ombudsman to take suo motu notice of the recurring pattern of time-barred references costing the national exchequer irreparable revenue losses.
The LTBA Public Interest Litigation Committee has indicated it will continue to monitor and highlight such cases in the public interest.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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