ISLAMABAD: The Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue Pakistan (ATIR) has taken a serious notice of a tax matter and directed the officials of Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) Islamabad to appear before the ATIR on August 10.

It was learnt that the ATIR has summoned the concerned official dealing with the order wherein income tax return of a company has been declared as "invalid" falling under the jurisdiction of Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) Islamabad.

The notice was taken by the ATIR on the basis of appeal filed by a taxpayer through a Lahore-based tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt against LTO, Islamabad tax functionaries for issuing an order under section 120(4) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 without service of statutory notice u/s 120(3) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Sources said that the ATIR observed: "This tribunal is first independent forum to adjudicate the matter so the department is therefore directed not to proceed further in any manner whatsoever in the consequence of the order till the disposal of main appeal. Since the matter is about the business activity of the appellant, which needs early disposal. The officer who passed the order u/s 120(4) of the ordinance is directed to appear before this tribunal and the Chief Commissioner concerned is expected to ensure the attendance of said officer.

On the same issue, Federal Tax Ombudsman Pakistan has also initiated Own Motion Intervention under Complaint No. 0032/OM/2021 and the investigation is conducted across Pakistan especially against the LTO, Islamabad.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021