Over 87,000 tax cases pending with superior courts, tribunals

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of tax related cases involving a whopping amount of Rs2.582 trillion are pending with the superior judiciary and appellate tribunals for adjudication.

According to the official data available with The News, a total of 87,958 cases are pending with the Supreme Court, five high courts and appellate tribunals. Out of 87,958 cases, 74,566 cases of Inland Revenue Service (IRS) related to Income Tax, General Sales Tax, and Federal Excise Duty involving Rs2.333 trillion, and 13,392 customs cases involving an outstanding stuck-up tax amount of Rs249 billion were pending with different judicial forums till September 30, 2022.

Out of 74,566 cases, 3,244 IRS cases are pending with the Supreme Court involving an outstanding tax amount of Rs96 billion. Among all the High Courts, the Lahore High Court stands on the top with 5,305 cases involving the stuck-up tax amount of Rs369 billion.

The Sindh High Court stands at the second number with 2,509 IRS cases involving an outstanding tax amount of Rs210 billion.

There are 1,094 cases pending with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) involving an outstanding tax amount of Rs178 billion. The Peshawar High Court’s pending IRS cases stand at 321 involving an outstanding stuck-up tax amount of Rs8 billion. A total of 11 cases of IRS are pending with the Balochistan High Court involving a stuck-up tax amount of Rs3 billion.

A total of 62,082 cases are pending with the IRS Appellate Tribunals involving an outstanding stuck-up tax amount of Rs1,469 billion. There is a total of 13,392 pending Customs cases involving a stuck-up amount of Rs249 billion. There are 1,453 cases pending with the Supreme Court involving a stuck-up tax amount of Rs12 billion.

In the case of Customs-related litigation, Sindh is on top, as 5,345 cases are pending involving a tax amount of Rs147 billion. There are 210 cases pending with the Islamabad High Court involving stuck-up amount of Rs1.5 billion, 572 cases are pending with the Lahore High Court involving a tax amount of Rs7 billion, 689 cases are pending with the Peshawar High Court involving a tax amount of Rs2 billion, 65 cases are pending with the Balochistan High Court involving a stuck-up tax amount of Rs4.5 billion.

There are a total of 5,058 pending cases of Customs involving stuck-up tax amount of Rs75 billion. A tax expert suggested that the FBR should work out an effective strategy for early disposal of the pending cases where courts granted stays exceeding six months.

However, some official sources said the FBR should strengthen its legal team to ensure early disposal of cases. There is also a tendency for framing cases on frivolous charges, so an internal exercise is also required to end such litigations so that the FBR can focus on heavy tax potential cases.