ISLAMABAD: To promote transparency, fair play in tax litigation and institutional accountability, President Asif Ali Zardari has dismissed a representation filed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) against a landmark order of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) thereby confirming the FTO’s direction that tax authorities must provide complete transparency in assessment proceedings and provide tax record to the aggrieved taxpayer.
The matter arose from a complaint filed by a non-resident taxpayer against the Tax Office, Islamabad, for withholding copies of tax record, including notices, order-sheets, and assessment documents, pertaining to Tax Year 2020. Vide order dated 19.02.2026, the FTO held that the taxpayer has a fundamental right, under the law read with Article 19-A of the Constitution, to obtain copies of such records and directed to provide the same within fifteen days.
Rather than complying, the FBR chose to file a representation before the President, contesting the FTO’s order and effectively seeking to keep the proceedings against the taxpayer opaque. That representation has now been conclusively rejected. President held in unambiguous terms: “No infirmity has been pointed out in the impugned decision of the learned FTO. The same is accordingly maintained. The representation is dismissed.”
When contacted, Waheed Shahzad Butt, who represented the taxpayer in the proceedings, highly appreciated the President’s decision, terming it a much-needed course correction for Pakistan’s tax administration. This order sends an unequivocal message that tax proceedings cannot be conducted in mystery, Butt observed.
For years, taxpayers have been denied basic access to their own case record, notices, order-sheets, submissions, leaving them unable to meaningfully defend themselves. The President’s confirmation of the FTO’s order restores a taxpayer’s constitutional right to information and strikes at the culture of concealment that has severely deteriorated public confidence in the taxation system, he said.
He further stated that the FBR’s persistence in contesting a straightforward transparency directive, all the way up to the President, reflected an institutional reluctance to be held accountable and that the dismissal of its representation should now compel field formations across the country to comply with similar FTO directions without further resistance or delay.
With the representation now dismissed, the FTO’s order stands final and binding and the FBR is required to immediately furnish the requisite tax record to the taxpayer, Butt added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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