Pending tax appeals: ATIR figures totally at variance with FBR data

There is a huge difference in the number of pending appeals pertaining to tax cases at the level of Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) when Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data is compared with the actual figures available with Chairman Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR).
Sources told Business Recorder here on Saturday that FBR's field formations reported about 5,758 pending appeals for Tax Year 2012 and Tax Year 2013 with the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue whereas Chairman Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) reported 29,625 pending appeals received by the ATIR during two months (November 2013 and June 2014). The figure of only two months - 29,625 is very high as compared to 5,758 pending appeals for full two Tax Years 2012 and 2013.
In this regard, the FBR has issued instructions to all Chief Commissioners of Large Taxpayer Units and Regional Tax Offices. According to the FBR's instructions to the filed formations, attention is being diverted to the letter of a Member Tax Reforms Commission, intimating that the field formations have communicated pendency of appeals at ATIR for tax year 2012 and 2013 at 2370 and 3388, whereas, the Chairman Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR), has given information of pending appeals before ATIR at 13628 and 15997. Member Tax Reform Commission has further informed that huge difference has been reported by the field formations vis-à-vis record of ATIR. Such a big variation is alarming, which implies that the field formations have not submitted the correct data and the exercise was conducted in a very casual way.
It is therefore requested that the pending data of appeals before ATIR may again be checked and a report be submitted latest by January 19, 2015, FBR's instructions added. Member Tax Reform Commission was of the view that the FBR provided TRC data in respect of Appeals pending on June 30, 2013. During meeting of TRC with Chairman Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue, he expressed his total surprise at the low numbers of pendency of cases being reported by FBR and promised to share the actual numbers. The pendency as per record of ATIR is 13,628 and 15,997 cases for November 2013 and June 2014, respectively. The difference in numbers of reported pending cases by FBR and those as per ATIR is very huge and the difference is a cause of significant concern.