KARACHI: Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has drawn the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) attention towards a deficiency in the law for ensuring proper service of notices and other documents on resident taxpayers.

The PTBA strongly feels that since there was no proper method to serve notices, it was not only causing revenue loss, but also unjust ex parte orders passed by the department against a registered individual.

The tax bar maintained that such decisions made by the department are illegal and not sustainable in the eyes of the law because as per current practice only notices and other documents served on the resident taxpayers in accordance with the mode and manner prescribed under Section 218(1) of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 would be valid and legal.

In order to remove the lacuna in the law, PTBA has urged FBR to clarify with regard to proper service of notices and other documents on resident taxpayers under the Income Tax Ordi­nance, 2001, and Income Tax Rules, (read with) General Clauses Act 1897.

In support of their argument the tax bar further pointed out that under Sec­tion 218 of Income Tax Ordi­nance 2001, service of notices and other documents would be on the basis of personally serviced or through representative.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017