Pending litigation cases: nearly 80% amount with Appellate Tribunal, Collectors/Commissioners (Appeal)

Contrary to what authorities would have you believe, an amount of nearly Rs2.88 trillion remained stuck in the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) and Collectors/Commissioners (Appeal) as pending litigation cases, revealed a document available with Business Recorder and updated as of February 28, 2023.

As per the document, overall, an amount to the tune of Rs3.673 trillion was stuck in about 98,952 litigation cases.

Of the total amount, Rs1.46 trillion remained stuck in 65,255 pending cases in the Appellate Tribunal, the highest, while Rs1.427 trillion remained stuck in 20,618 pending litigation cases at the commissioner appeals, an extended arm of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Meanwhile, out of the total, 2,881 cases with a amount of Rs91.6 billion was the share of pending litigation cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while 5,506 litigation cases amounting to Rs299.913 billion remained pending in the Lahore High Court.

Moreover, the document revealed that 3,335 cases amounting to Rs163.106 billion remain pending in Sindh High Court.

In a key development, the government on Wednesday introduced the Tax Law Amendment Bill, 2024, in the National Assembly, restricting the role of the Commissioner Inland Revenue (Appeals) to only deal with taxpayers’ income tax appeals up to Rs20 million; sales tax appeals (up to Rs10 million) and federal excise duty related appeals up to Rs5 million.

Under the proposed Tax Law Amendment Bill 2024, the government has not abolished the post of Commissioner Inland Revenue (Appeals), but any income tax appeal involving an amount above Rs20 million would be decided by the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR). Similarly, sales tax appeals above Rs10 million and federal excise appeals above Rs5 million would also be transferred to the ATIR for decision within a six-month period.

The federal cabinet has also approved amendments to tax laws aimed at liquidating some of the appellate fora immediately through legislative interventions and adoption of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), official sources told Business Recorder separately.