In a letter sent to the Member (Legal) Dr Tariq Masood, the Bar said that the DGIA was established under section 228 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, and its jurisdiction and functions were notified through S.R.O 660(l)/2005.
However, the Directorate through notices was asking the taxpayers to provide information which they had already filed online at the time of filing of their tax returns or filed with field officers during proceedings by tax authorities.
The letter further stated that these notices were creating unrest among those taxpayers who are already compliant. That malpractice also caused mistrust between taxpayers and revenue authorities and extra time and efforts were needed by them for making compliance of notices.
Moreover, it reiterated that the said information could not be asked by the Directorate from the taxpayers directly but the same could only be asked from the concerned officers holding jurisdictions.
The notices are still being issued by the Directorate to taxpayers seeking information such as returns, wealth statements, complete bank statements etc. of the last five years.
The letter also apprised that KTBA had invited Rehmatullah Khan Wazir, the then Member IR-Operations and Hafiz Muhammad Ali Indhar, the then Member (Legal) at the Bar office on May 13, 2017 and discussed the said issue.
It said that both of them during the meeting agreed with the Bar's viewpoint and assured that such notices would not be issued in future. It was also agreed to make appropriate amendment to the S.R.O. 660 (l)/2005, if required.
During that meeting, KTBA had also requested to issue necessary instructions to the Directorate to avoid issuing such notices directly to the taxpayers. However, the board has not taken up the said issue, resulting that the Directorate is still issuing notices to the taxpayers.
Therefore, the KTBA has requested the Member (Legal) to look into the matter and issue necessary instructions to the Directorate to approach respective field offices to obtain information of taxpayers for the purpose of inspection/investigation and not to issue notices directly to the already compliant taxpayers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017