FBR urged to stop recovery proceedings for April

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should immediately issue a circular or general order to all its field officers to temporarily stop recovery proceedings or passing different orders against the taxpayers for April 2020.
Tax experts and lawyers/advisors have placed the said demand before the tax authorities to avoid unnecessary interaction between the taxpayers and tax officials during March-April 2020 during lockdowns in entire country.
At the moment the Pakistan revenue collecting agency i.e. the FBR need some clear policies to prevent their taxpayer from this critical situation in the country. The doctors have strictly advised social distancing and minimum human movement from one place to another place during current weeks.
While talking to Business Recorder, renowned corporate and tax lawyer Syed Tanseer Bukhari, vice president Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) said that in a recent press release the FBR make a good arrangement for the payment of customs duties, sales tax and other levies at import stage in the light of the directives given by the premier Imran Khan (PM) i.e. to make sure the supply chain of food and other necessary items to the masses.
Hence, in the current scenario, the FBR devised Alternate Delivery Channels (ADC) to make payment of customs duty, income tax, sales tax and federal excise duty.
In the wake of corona epidemic and restricted movement of the people, it has clarified by the Customs wing of FBR that taxpayers also have the facility to make payment of Customs Duty, Income Tax, Sales Tax and Federal Excise Duty through Alternate Delivery Channels (ADC).
Following are different options for Alternate Delivery Channels (ADC):
1) Internet Banking.
2) ATMs
3) Mobile Banking (Jazz Cash, etc).
4) Over the counter from all the branches of all the scheduled banks.
One another good step taken by the FBR regarding date extension in the sales tax, income tax statutory filings is also appreciated from the business community as well as from the different Pakistan Tax Bar Associations.
Syed Tanseer Bukhari, while appreciating the said arrangement from the FBR wing put the light on another aspect that needed attention from the higher authorities of the FBR.
He commented that if field officers continually issuing demand notices/order in original/assessment orders pertaining to income tax, sales tax and customs it results in the movement of the masses from one place to another place.
In current scenario, if an order or demand notice is issued, than taxpayer need to contact his consultants for filing of appeals, stay applications on different judicial and quasai judicial fora in the country.
Due to this act of the field officers, the forum of Commissioner Appeal, Appellate Tribunal and even High Courts need to be opened for tax litigants.
Bukhari added that one general order required to be issued from the FBR to all the field officers to stop the recovery proceedings as well as passing of different orders against the taxpayers for month of April 2020 as a whole.
He added that it is the need of time that FBR must issue a circular in this regard.
At the end, he added, as it is common for all that tax is a dividend of the economy.
Hence, in a jammed economy, tax collection may be difficult for officers as well as near to impossible to pay the same for bona fide taxpayers.
Different bars of Pakistan including president Rawalpindi Islamabad Tax Bar Association.
(Syed Tauqeer Bukhari, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan) also issued bar circular to the chief commissioners of the regional tax offices of Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Large Taxpayer Unit, Islamabad by requesting to them please don't pass any adverse orders in absence of the taxpayer or their authorized representatives.