ISLAMABAD: The amount involved in tax-related cases under litigation now stands at nearly Rs2,582 billion and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is taking measures to expedite them at the level of judicial forums.

According to sources, over 88,000 cases are pending in various courts across the country. The pending cases of Inland Revenue amounted to Rs2,333 billion and Customs cases involved an amount of Rs249 billion.

A large number of the FBR’s tax revenue claims are pending at internal forums of the tax collection body such as the collector commissioners and appellate tribunals.

In February 2022, former FBR chairman Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed had told the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance that tax revenue of Rs3.5 trillion was stuck up in litigations on account of different cases and appeals before the higher judiciary. It was a major challenge for them as they were trying to make the procedure short.

Recently, the FBR has laid down strict conditions on the Commissioner (Legal) in Large Tax Offices (LTOs) or Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) for future filing of appeals before the high courts/ apex court to avoid heavy penalties on filing of frivolous cases.

According to the FBR’s instructions received by the field formations, each field office should constitute a scrutiny committee to forward its recommendations to the relevant Commissioner (IR) for filing of appeals.

In view of the above, the FBR has further directed to convey the following instructions: (i) The proposed CPLA (constitutional petition for leave to appeal) shall not be forwarded to the board as a routine matter and in a mechanical manner. The CPLAs shall only be forwarded to the board after due diligence and application of mind in framing important questions of law that are required to be brought before the apex court.

(ii) While framing the questions of law it must be ensured that the issues raised therein have not been settled earlier by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in some other cases.

(iii) If a high court has passed a judgment on the basis of a case law or its earlier judgment or judgment of another higher court, it must be ensured, while preparing the CPLA, that the judgement/ case law relied soon by the High Courts has not attained finality due to non-filing of appeals by the department or confirmation of the same by the Supreme Court. If the relevant Commissioner is of the opinion that the judgment relied upon by the High Court is distinguishable on factual and legal plane, the same must be elaborated in the proposal for filing of CPLA.

In order to ensure the above and to avoid any embarrassment before the apex court, as well as, imposition of substantial costs by the supreme court on account of frivolous litigation in future, a scrutiny committee comprising senior officers and relevant legal counsel be notified in each formation which shall forward its recommendations to the relevant Commissioner (IR) for filing or otherwise of a CPLA in a particular case.

The relevant Commissioner (IR) may then forward the proposal for filing of CPLA to the board through proper channel, the FBR’s instructions added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022