The Ministry of Finance has issued a notification regarding the Tax Laws Amendment Ordinance, which introduces three key amendments to the tax system. These amendments aim to address legal, administrative, and enforcement gaps in the tax system.
The first amendment relates to the postponement of tax collection when a matter is pending in court or an injunction has been issued. Previously, taxpayers could defer payment for 30 days, leading to delays in revenue collection worth billions of rupees. To address this, special benches have been established in the Supreme Court and High Court to enable early decisions in such cases. These benches will be supervised by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and will apply to decisions made at the Supreme Court or High Court level.
The second amendment allows the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to deploy officers at selected business locations to review income effectively. This amendment targets businesses providing expensive services that fall outside the scope of the current sales tax system and does not apply to ordinary traders.
The third amendment pertains to visits by FBR officers to business locations, which are conducted according to strict rules and guidelines. Officers are required to obtain a barcoded permit before visiting and record their actions on a mobile device. A weekly report of all FBR monitoring activities is submitted to the Prime Minister
