
The proposal has its origins in the fact that over Rs300 billion of tax revenue has been ‘stuck’ in litigation, much of it for many years as stay orders have been granted by the superior judiciary, along with weaknesses in the legal defence teams of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The chairman of the PAC is pleading that there are hurdles in the way of tax collection including the aforementioned stay orders which are supported by Article 199(4)A of the Constitution. A further hurdle is provided by the Inland Revenue’s own tribunals that have officers of the FBR sitting on them which also deliver stay orders.
The incestuous nature of these various relationships has long been maintained, and virtually guarantees tax non-payment which is in effect sanctioned by the very authorities tasked with tax collection. Were the PAC move to suspend the CNICs of defaulters be successful then there would be howls of pain across the land. Thus far the chairman of the FBR has said that the PAC does not have the legal powers to proceed as he wishes, but it would seem that the move has the support of the Auditor General. ‘No pain, no gain’ goes the saying.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2017.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ