FBR Forms Three Tax Scrutiny Committees

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has established three Independent Case Scrutiny Committees (ICSCs) in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to curb unnecessary tax litigation, promote consistency in legal decisions, and strengthen the handling of appeals and references before the superior courts.

According to an office order issued by the FBR's Legal Wing on Friday, the committees have been constituted under Section 133A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, Section 47AAA of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, and Section 34AA of the Federal Excise Act, 2005.

The Islamabad Committee will be headed by former Justice Athar Saeed, with Barrister Saad Buttar and former FBR Member Dr Muhammad Iqbal serving as members. It will oversee litigation related to LTO Islamabad, RTO Islamabad, RTO Peshawar, RTO Abbottabad and DG I&I Islamabad.

The Lahore Committee will be chaired by former Justice Khawaja Farooq Saeed, alongside Advocate Mirza Nasar and former FBR Member Shahid Hussain Asad. It will supervise cases from LTO Lahore, LTO Multan, CTO Lahore, and Regional Tax Offices in Lahore-I, Lahore-II, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Sargodha and Sahiwal.

The Karachi Committee will be led by former Justice Maqbool Baqir, with Munawar Ali Memon and former FBR Member Seema Shakil as members. It will handle litigation from LTO Karachi, CTO-I and CTO-II Karachi, RTO-I and RTO-II Karachi, RTO Sukkur, RTO Hyderabad and RTO Quetta.

The committees will review tax-related cases and recommend whether references should be filed before the High Courts or petitions pursued before the Supreme Court or the Federal Constitutional Court. They will also periodically assess pending litigation to determine whether continuing legal proceedings is in the best interest of government revenue.

In addition, the committees will maintain a database of settled legal matters and judicial precedents to ensure uniformity in future cases, identify legal and administrative shortcomings requiring policy reforms, and submit recommendations to the FBR for corrective action.

The FBR stated that the committees' terms of engagement, remuneration, meeting procedures and decision-making process will be governed by the relevant provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, Sales Tax Act, Federal Excise Act, and their associated rules.

The office order came into force immediately following approval by the competent authority.