LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ruled that uploading tax appeal orders to the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Inland Revenue Information System (IRIS) portal does not, by itself, constitute valid legal service.
The decision restores three taxpayers’ appeals that the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue had dismissed as time-barred. A division bench comprising Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf and Justice Anwaar Hussain decided three connected cases led by Tahir Mehmood.
The tribunal had treated the dates of IRIS uploads as sufficient proof of service when calculating appeal deadlines. Justice Hussain, who wrote the judgment, examined Section 218(1)(d) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
The provision allows electronic service, but only through methods prescribed by law. Under Rule 74 of the Income Tax Rules, 2002, electronic addresses include email addresses and fax numbers. The rule also requires confirmation of transmission.
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The bench found that making an order available through IRIS did not prove lawful delivery to a taxpayer. Consequently, appeal deadlines could not begin merely because the department had uploaded the orders.
In one case, a taxpayer cited Covid-19 and quarantine after foreign travel as reasons for missing an appeal deadline. Two other taxpayers said they learned of the orders only after receiving recovery notices in April.
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The tax department argued that taxpayers should regularly monitor their IRIS accounts. However, the court rejected the argument that this expectation could replace the legal requirement to serve an order.
The judges also referred to constitutional protections under Articles 4 and 10A. The bench set aside all three tribunal orders and directed it to decide the restored appeals afresh on their merits.
