Tribunal sets aside orders of OIR for not following directions of Commissioner-IR Appeals

LAHORE: An Income Tax Tribunal has set-aside the orders of an Officer Inland Revenue (OIR) for not following the directions of Commissioner-IR Appeals against the order-in-original for a fresh proceeding, said sources.

According to the sources, the OIR had issued another show cause notice and extended scope of the original proceedings, which was not tenable in the eyes of law and against the spirit of the Income Tax Ordinance provisions.

As per details, the OIR found a steel products manufacturer in default during proceeding of monitoring of withholding tax and raised a demand worth millions of rupees.

Commissioner-IR termed the order without jurisdiction but the Commissioner Appeals did not follow the direction and preferred to uphold the order by Deputy Commissioner-IR.

The steel manufacturer was of the view that the Commissioner Appeals has erred in not appreciating the facts that the Deputy Commissioner-IR had transgressed jurisdiction by upholding the order-in-original.

He further stressed that transactions mentioned in the disputed order were not subject to withholding tax but the OIR ignored the fact of the case which is apparent from the record.

He further pointed out that flat higher withholding tax rate has been applied, which us nit in consonance with the provisions of the income tax law.

Also, he submitted that the OIR had passed the controversial order on Saturday, which is not working day for the FBR officials. According to him, the Commissioner Appeals was not justified to uphold levy of withholding tax on flat rates by the Deputy Commissioner-IR. He also objected to the imposition of default surcharge.

The tribunal set-aside order passed by authorities below and remanded the case for de novo proceedings in accordance with law.

It further directed the OIR to produce all the corroborative evidence and details in support of his claim and the department, after going through and scanning the details, should finalize the proceedings after providing full opportunity of being heard to the taxpayer.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024