ISLAMABAD: Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) has set aside Rs 199 million tax demand against Jahangir Tareen by the Federal Board of Revenue.
A two-member ATIR, Lahore bench, passed the judgment against the FBR’s decision to recover an extra Rs199.1 million from the PTI lawmaker.
The Regional Tax Office (RTO) Lahore had raised the tax demand against Tareen in May this year on the grounds that the taxpayer understated his agriculture income and also showed a big chunk of income as gift to avoid paying Rs199 million as tax. Before the conclusion of the proceedings in the RTO, the FBR decided to transfer the case to the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Lahore and issued an order that Tareen should deposit Rs199 million additional tax by August 8, 2016.
The demand was raised in “indecent haste and with a pre-determined mind”, according to the tribunal’s judgment. In his Income Tax Return for tax year 2011, Tareen declared agriculture income at Rs700.2 million while the same was declared at Rs160 million in the nomination form submitted before the ECP, showing a difference of Rs540.3 million.
Agriculture income is exempted from taxes. The FBR added Rs540.3 million into taxable income of Tareen, but the tribunal ordered that this was done with “a pre-determined mind”.
The other allegation against him was that Tareen declared Rs190 million as gifts, which are also exempted from income tax. The tribunal ruled that this issue was raised in “indecent haste”.
