September 07, 2021: CODE PAKISTAN organized a launch ceremony at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad for their recently published report entitled “ADR for Tax Dispute Resolution in Pakistan” in collaboration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). The launch was attended by senior-level officers of the Pakistan Customs and the Inland Revenue Services (IRS) from Islamabad.
The tax dispute resolution report was the product of a series of trainings held with FBR officers in major cities across the country on “Mainstreaming ADR for Equitable Access to Justice in Pakistan” that were intended to raise awareness and build the capacity of tax officers in Pakistan to provide support to citizens in the quick and efficient tax dispute resolution by using effective methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
The report narrates the evolution of ADR in Pakistan to highlight the strengths and challenges of provisions contained in past ADR schemes before focusing on a set of recommendations to promote the implementation of effective ADR practices for tax dispute resolution in Pakistan. These recommendations were developed in consultation with provincial FBR officers and cover a list of issues, namely; the composition of the ADR Committee, aspects of the decision-making process, questions regarding the conclusiveness of decisions arrived at through the ADR process, the principles of confidentiality, immunity to exclusionary clauses pertaining to questions of law, payment of disputed demand, matters affecting the stay of disputed tax demand pending ADR, and default surcharges/additional tax.
President CODE PAKISTAN, Mr. Dilawar Khan commenced proceedings with an introduction to the tax dispute resolution report and the activities leading up to its compilation. The event concluded with a few words of appreciation from the DG (Training & Development) FBR, Ms. Ayesha Farooq who acknowledged the efforts of CODE PAKISTAN and NCSC in undertaking the trainings and the compilation of the report. She also thanked all those in attendance for their participation and contribution to the project in terms of the trainings and the report itself. She further added that the report would serve as a baseline document that would continue to evolve with the input of relevant stakeholders to ensure real progress towards implementing effective ADR practices for tax dispute resolution in Pakistan.