Petitions in high courts: LTUs and RTOs to accept manually filed tax returns

The manually filed sales tax/federal excise returns in all cases would be accepted by LTUs and RTOs where high courts have allowed petitioners to claim adjustment of provincial sales tax on services under the provincial laws. The FBR issued instructions to the LTUs and RTOs, here on Monday.
According to the FBR instructions, in continuation of letter of even number dated 17.02.2014, the Board has decided that manually filed sales tax/federal excise returns in all the cases shall be invariably accepted by the LTUs/RTOs where writ petitions have been filed in the high courts challenging the vires of clause (22A) of section 2 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 and where high courts have directed the FBR and its functionaries to accept the returns of the petitioners electronically or manually by allowing adjustment claimed by the petitioners of Provincial Sales Tax on Services under the provincial laws, subject to final outcome of the writ petitions.
All the Chief Commissioners have been requested not to take any action under section 33 & 34 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 with respect to returns filed manually within the due date of filing of returns, the FBR maintained. Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (Pral) has been requested not to take any action with respect to active taxpayers' status of the petitioners. This dispensation shall be available till further orders in cases where copies of orders of the high courts have been provided to the concerned authorities containing specific directions to the FBR/ its functionaries, the FBR instructions added.