The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tax disputes have resulted in approximately 2,237 billion PKR being withheld from the federal treasury due to protracted delays in the appeals process.
Current data reveals that 19,899 tax cases are pending at the appeals stage across all 35 FBR offices, with 1,158 billion PKR in funds frozen.
In response to this significant backlog, proposals are being considered to dissolve the Commissioner Inland Revenue appeals offices through legislative action in parliament. This move aims to alleviate the bottleneck and streamline the tax dispute resolution process.
Should the dissolution occur, the pending cases would be transferred to tribunals where another 71,664 cases involving 2,237 billion PKR are already pending. Additionally, 145,036 cases are pending in various courts, which collectively involve 4,238 billion PKR unavailable to the federal government.
FBR officials also highlighted that 740 billion PKR tied up in 19,528 cases are currently stuck in the four high courts. At the same time, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has 3,455 tax-related cases pending, involving another 1,400 billion PKR of government funds. This situation underscores the critical need for reforms in the tax appeals process to release these substantial funds into the federal treasury.
