February 21, 2023 (MLN): Tax-related litigation in Pakistan has reached a staggering amount of Rs2,330 billion, highlighting the extensive backlog of tax-related cases in the country, the Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Asim Ahmad on Monday revealed during a briefing to the Senate Committee on finance.
The FBR has registered 76,349 cases on tax-related issues, and some 245 cases have been withheld at the Islamabad High Court.
To help resolve these pending cases, special benches have been constituted at the IHC and LHC, and the FBR chairman will soon meet with the chief justices of these courts, he added.
In addition, an amount of Rs1,400bn is stuck with some 63,000 cases, causing significant losses to the national exchequer, he said.
To address this issue, the FBR plans to pick the top 100 cases for resolution on account of taxes.
The Senate Standing Committee has suggested speeding up recovery by exploring out-of-court settlements.
This could help the FBR recover a significant amount of revenue and ease the burden on the judicial system.
The FBR chairman emphasized the need for cooperation from all stakeholders, including taxpayers, to help resolve these tax-related issues.
It is hoped that these efforts will lead to a more efficient and effective tax system, benefiting both the government and the taxpayers.
