Quick disposal of tax-related disputes suffers setback
S M Jahangir | Thursday, 26 June 2008
The government's current move to ensure quick disposal of tax-related cases faces a setback as the new bench set up for hearing on the disputes remains non-functional for months mainly in absence of manpower.
"Although the government set up a new hearing bench under Dhaka zone of the Taxes Appellate Tribunal (TAT) nearly six months ago for the sake of early settlement of the tax-related disputes, no recruitment has yet been made to that end,"
As a result, the number of appeals registered with the TAT continues rises, depriving the government of a large amount of revenue, the official said.
Officials, however, identified a dilly-dally attitude of the Ministry of Establishment as the main reason for such a delay in the making of appointments to the newly created hearing bench.
"Since its establishment in December 2007, the TAT has been seeking the establishment ministry's permission for the appointments of required manpower to the new hearing bench, but no positive response has yet been made by the ministry," said an official.
The total manpower under the organogam of the newly established hearing bench is 18, the official said, adding all the required posts still remain vacant.
With the new one, the total hearing benches under Dhaka zone of the Tribunal has stood at five while two other hearing benches are functioning in Chittagong and Khulna divisions, officials said.
An inordinate delay in the start of operation by the new one, four other hearing benches under Dhaka zone are facing immense problems for dealing with a growing number of appeals, they added.
Currently, more than 1,400 appeals involving revenue to the tune of over Tk 20 billion are pending with the TAT, a senior TAT official said, adding that the Dhaka zone alone receives nearly 70 per cent of the total appeals registered with the TAT.
"Although the existing four benches under Dhaka zone are able to dispose of 400 to 500 tax-related disputes a month, a similar number of appeals is also registered with the TAT per month," said the official.
Taking the increased number of pending appeals into consideration, the authority had earlier doubled the number of cases to 80 to be disposed of by each of the bench a month.
Although the government introduced a financial incentive for the TAT members for the settlement of additional number of appeals, now the payment of such honorarium remains suspended due to reasons unknown, officials claimed.
As per the existing rules, the Tribunal is to settle the appeals within six months from the date of their registrations, failure of which will result in their automatic disposals.
Normally, the tax-related disputes, which remain unresolved at the initial hearing by the tax appellate zones under the National Board of Revenue (NBR), are forwarded to the TAT.
"Although the government set up a new hearing bench under Dhaka zone of the Taxes Appellate Tribunal (TAT) nearly six months ago for the sake of early settlement of the tax-related disputes, no recruitment has yet been made to that end,"
As a result, the number of appeals registered with the TAT continues rises, depriving the government of a large amount of revenue, the official said.
Officials, however, identified a dilly-dally attitude of the Ministry of Establishment as the main reason for such a delay in the making of appointments to the newly created hearing bench.
"Since its establishment in December 2007, the TAT has been seeking the establishment ministry's permission for the appointments of required manpower to the new hearing bench, but no positive response has yet been made by the ministry," said an official.
The total manpower under the organogam of the newly established hearing bench is 18, the official said, adding all the required posts still remain vacant.
With the new one, the total hearing benches under Dhaka zone of the Tribunal has stood at five while two other hearing benches are functioning in Chittagong and Khulna divisions, officials said.
An inordinate delay in the start of operation by the new one, four other hearing benches under Dhaka zone are facing immense problems for dealing with a growing number of appeals, they added.
Currently, more than 1,400 appeals involving revenue to the tune of over Tk 20 billion are pending with the TAT, a senior TAT official said, adding that the Dhaka zone alone receives nearly 70 per cent of the total appeals registered with the TAT.
"Although the existing four benches under Dhaka zone are able to dispose of 400 to 500 tax-related disputes a month, a similar number of appeals is also registered with the TAT per month," said the official.
Taking the increased number of pending appeals into consideration, the authority had earlier doubled the number of cases to 80 to be disposed of by each of the bench a month.
Although the government introduced a financial incentive for the TAT members for the settlement of additional number of appeals, now the payment of such honorarium remains suspended due to reasons unknown, officials claimed.
As per the existing rules, the Tribunal is to settle the appeals within six months from the date of their registrations, failure of which will result in their automatic disposals.
Normally, the tax-related disputes, which remain unresolved at the initial hearing by the tax appellate zones under the National Board of Revenue (NBR), are forwarded to the TAT.