ISLAMABAD (June 17 2005): For becoming member of the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee, the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has decided to withdraw condition for chartered accountants, advocates of high court or income tax practitioner to have at least 25 high profile cases published in reputed journals.
The CBR has proposed amendment to the Income Tax Rules 2002 through an SRO(I)/2005 to simplify procedure for selection of members for the ADR committee.
The CBR has given 15 days to all the stakeholders to give comments on the draft amendments. The notification will be issued after incorporating viable suggestions of the stakeholders.
Presently, the ADR committees for resolution of disputes include the following members: First member will be the director general, Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) or commissioner, Medium Taxpayers Unit (MTU) or any other commissioner or income tax officer nominated by the Board.
Second member will be a fellow of chartered accountants, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan or an associate of Cost and Management Accountant, an advocate of high court or income tax practitioner having at least 25 reported cases in a reputed journal to his credit and third member will be a reputable taxpayer.
The CBR wants to withdraw this condition of 25 reported cases in the journal for the income tax practitioners, advocates and chartered accountants. The condition will be withdrawn after incorporating the viewpoint of all the stakeholders.
A chartered accountant said that it was a legal anomaly, which has been removed by the Income Tax Department.
