The Supreme Court sought a detailed report from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) about tax revenue claims worth Rs3.5 trillion stuck in litigations due to various cases and appeals before the higher judiciary.

The sources said that the Registrar office has asked the Attorney General’s office to get the comprehensive report from the FBR about how many cases are pending in which high court and the apex court.

FBR Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed on February 17 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. He said that it was a major challenge for them as they were trying to make the procedure short.

“All the cases have been taken to the court under article 199 and there are different stages for pending cases till landing before the Supreme Court of Pakistan” he said, adding that the FBR had introduced Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), which failed to bring the desired results.

Last month, Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah in the backdrop of the federal cabinet’s concerns over pendency of matters, wherein, billions of rupees of the state exchequer were involved, summoned a meeting of top government officials, which was participated by Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan, and Chairman FBR, Competition Commission of Pakistan, and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

In that meeting, the AGP, Khalid, furnished the details of pending FBR litigations and Customs cases.

According to the data, around 80 per cent of the FBR’s tax revenue claims were pending at internal forums of the tax collection body such as the collector commissioners and appellate tribunals.

The FBR data revealed that until January 25, a total of 90,426 tax cases were pending at different forums, wherein, Rs3,303,740 million revenue claims were involved.

Of the Rs3.5 trillion, Rs2,556 billion tax claims were pending at appellate tribunals and collector commissioners.

A total of 58,937 matters were pending in appellate tribunals, wherein, Rs950 billion tax revenue was involved, while 19,523 cases were pending in collector commissioners, in which, Rs1,606 billion tax revenue was claimed by the FBR.

“Around Rs410 billion of tax revenue claims are stuck in superior courts.”

A total of 2,959 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, wherein, Rs72.208 billion tax revenue was involved.

Up to 1,298 FBR cases were pending in the IHC in which Rs232.66 billion tax claims were involved.

In the Sindh High Court (SHC), 2,238 cases were pending, while Rs195.49 billion tax revenue was involved.

A total of tax claims amounting Rs234.71 billion in 5,133 cases were pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC). In the Peshawar High Court (PHC), 317 cases were pending, wherein, Rs76.04 billion tax revenue was claimed by the FBR. In the Balochistan High Court (BHC), 21 FBR cases were pending, wherein, Rs4 billion tax revenue was claimed.

Regarding details of pending litigation customs cases, the government informed that a total of 17,642 cases were pending, wherein, Rs273.67 billion tax duty was claimed by the department.

In the apex court, 1,434 customs cases were pending, wherein, around Rs10 billion of the state exchequer was involved.

In the IHC, 147 cases of Rs.06 billion tax duty were pending. Some 5,441 cases were pending in the SHC, wherein, Rs105.98 billion revenue was involved.

In the LHC, 568 cases were pending wherein Rs7.7 billion of the state exchequer was involved while in the PHC, 583 cases were pending, wherein, Rs1.3 billion tax claims were involved.

In the BHC, 110 cases were pending while Rs68 million tax duty was claimed by the FBR. In collector appeals, 718 cases were pending, while Rs6.2 billion tax revenue was involved. In customs appellate tribunals, 4,640 cases were pending, while Rs82 billion tax duty was involved.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on March 5, 2022.