ISLAMABAD: The Federal Ministry of Law and Justice has been asked to initiate the process for the appointment of judicial/accountant members of the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR).

Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) President Anwar Kashif Mumtaz and its General Secretary Muhammad Rehan Siddiqui wrote a letter to Federal Minister of Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar and sent its copy to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The letter states that the terms of a large number of members of ATIR were expiring on June 4, 2024, and no process for the appointment of new members has been initiated yet.

They wrote; “We are afraid that non-availability of judicial members in ATIR will delay the dispensation of justice and slow down the economic cycle due to the fact that the tax revenue will

not make its way to the treasury.

They further wrote that if any process for the appointment of judicial/accountant member in ATIR initiated, then in order to make this forum effective consider the following points; judicial/accountant members should be appointed in accordance with the procedure and no contractual appointment of judicial members should be undertaken.

The accountant member be appointed from accountant fraternity as per Section 130 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

If the accountant member will be deputed by the FBR, then those members should remain for at least three years and during that period, they should not be called back.

Any officer who has less than three years job experience, should not be deputed as an accountant member of the ATIR.

All judicial members after their appointment will have to serve at least three months training programme at the respective judicial academies.

A committee should be constituted for the recommendation of judicial/accountant members which should comprise of law minister, the chairman of the relevant tribunal and President Pakistan Tax Bar Association.

Another committee should be constituted for the endorsement of the recommended accountant from the FBR which would comprise Law Minister, chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) or any relevant person designated as such, the chairman of the relevant tribunal and president of the PTBA.

They hoped that immediate action would be taken for the appointments of judicial/accountant members of ATIR.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024