THE government through the Finance Act 2020 has increased the fee for filing the tax appeals under the income tax, sales tax and federal excise laws. The tax appeal against assessment fee under Sales Tax Ordinance was increased from Rs1,000 to Rs5,000 for companies and Rs2,500 for individuals. Similar is the case with Income Tax Ordinance, and similar changes were made through section 6 (32) (b) and 6 (34) of the Finance Act 2020.

Lastly, for appeals other than those against assessment under Income Tax Ordinance was Rs200 for individuals and Rs1,000 for companies, which has been changed to Rs1,000 for individuals and Rs5,000 for companies.

The arbitrary increase in the fee is without any sound argument. The government should not have taken this step, especially in this era of economic depression. The increase will force the taxpayers move courts, which will increase the workload on the courts, for the writ may be filed at a lower cost than the appeal before the tax tribunals.

Talha Rehman

Lahore

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2021