ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has directed the officials of Inland Revenue (IR) to avoid opening audit cases merely on surmises and assumptions, sources said.
The FBR issued instructions to all chief commissioners of tax offices regarding proceedings under section 122(5) of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
The FBR said that it had received representations suggesting that the field offices were recklessly issuing notices under section 122(5) read with section 122(9) of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 where purportedly the threshold of ‘definite information’ as defined under section 122(8) was not met.
“It goes without saying that amendment proceedings under section 122(5) of the Ordinance, merely on basis of audit suspicion picked from within the declarations lodged by the taxpayers themselves, is an enforcement travesty and need to abate,” the FBR said.
The scheme of law warrants that a taxpayer must be dealt with precisely as per principle of justice and fair play, it added.
The FBR directed the field formation to adhere with law and due diligence must be ensured in respect of each taxpayer and no case should be opened merely on surmises and assumptions. “All taxpayers must be provided adequate opportunity of being heard, too,” the FBR added.
