ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) notified Chartered Accountant firms having an ICAP-QCR rating of satisfactory, to recover the due taxes from developers/builders who are obliged to submit completion certificates of real estate projects.
According to an S.R.O. 399(l)2024 issued by the FBR, the FBR has notified the firms of chartered accountants having a valid institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) quality control review (QCR) rating of ‘satisfactory’ on the 30th September 2023, or later as available on the website of the ICAP (www.icap.org.pk) for the purpose of certification as per provisions of the law.
The FBR has issued a notification at the request of tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt, who raised the issue with the FBR Chairman.
The FBR was urged to immediately notify the Chartered Accountant firms having an ICAP-QCR rating of satisfactory, to smoothly recover the due taxes from developers who are obliged to submit completion certificates of real estate projects.
This is a legal requirement under section 100D of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
Tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt has approached the Chairman FBR, Member Operations-IR, Member Legal, and Member Policy FBR, and states that FBR has not yet notified the list of firms of Chartered Accountants.
Developers are not in a position to submit completion certificates as per the relevant provisions of Section 100D read with the 11th Schedule. Inaction on behalf of the FBR is nothing but the worst kind of maladministration of justice in terms of clause (3) of sub-section (2) of the Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance, 2000.
In a letter to the FBR team, Butt said the FBR’s delay to notify the list of firms of Chartered Accountants has had severe consequences for developers across Pakistan, who are now unable to submit completion certificates as required by the legislature through Ordinance, 2001. This situation has resulted in significant uncertainty and financial losses for individuals and businesses.
This negligence was not only causing undue hardship for developers but also posed a threat to the integrity of the tax system and the National Exchequer.
