Taxpayer's appeal: CIR (Appeals) urged to treat DG I&I-IR as respondent

The Directorate General, Intelligence & Investigation Inland Revenue (IR) has asked the Commissioner Appeals to take measures for avoiding circumstances where taxpayer gets undue benefit in appeal process owing to non-representation by the I&I-IR at the level of CIR Appeals and appellate tribunals. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the Director General Intelligence & Investigation Inland Revenue has approached Chairman FBR requesting him to contact Commissioner Appeals.
According to the agency, Directorate General, Intelligence & Investigation-IR is a premier agency for detecting tax fraudsters. After detection of evasion of sales tax, income tax and FED cases, the reports are forwarded to field formations, ie, RTOs/LTUs for adjudication/assessment and recovery of evaded tax. It has been noticed that in the cases reported by I&I-IR the taxpayers aggrieved from the orders of adjudicating/assessing authority do not incorporate Director I&I-IR as respondent before the appellate fora. Accordingly the I&I-IR remains unaware of the appeal proceedings and the appellant taxpayer gets undue benefit in appeal owing to non-representation by the I&I-IR. Such an instance has come to the fore where an order-in-original involving sales tax demand of Rs 268 million in pursuance of a contravention report of Directorate of I&I-IR, Lahore. However, in second appeal the Appellate Tribunal-IR unjustifiably vacated the order of the lower appellate authority. It is believed that the department would have succeeded had the case been represented by I&I-IR as a respondent.
In a few cases the Director, I&I-IR, Lahore requested CIR (Appeals) to treat Director I&I-IR as respondent in the tax fraud cases reported by the Directorate I&I-IR but the request was not acceded to by the appellate authority. In order to satisfy the high principles of justice, it would be fair to admit the Director I&I-IR as respondent in those cases which have been created and reported by the Directorate I&I-IR, Lahore.
In view of the above, the CIR (Appeals) may be directed to consider the Director I&I-IR as respondent in the cases reported by the Directorates and not to entertain the aggrieved taxpayer's appeal unless Director I&I-IR is made a respondent, DG I&I-IR added.