The Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) Islamabad has declared that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) cannot serve tax notices solely through its IRIS portal, terming the practice “illegal.”
A two-member bench of the tribunal issued the ruling in a case involving an individual taxpayer, who had duly filed an income tax return under section 120(1)(b) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. Later, proceedings were initiated against the taxpayer over the purchase of immovable property in Tax Year 2022, leading to an ex-parte order by the assessing officer. The taxpayer challenged the decision before the tribunal.
The bench observed that FBR relied only on uploading the order on the IRIS portal without following the legally prescribed methods of service under section 218 of the Income Tax Ordinance. While FBR often argues that IRIS-based notices are valid, the tribunal found no legal support for this stance.
The order clarified that IRIS is merely an internal tax management platform, not a legally recognized tool for serving notices. Under the law, the only valid electronic modes of service are email and fax.
The tribunal stressed that unless tax rules are amended to explicitly allow service through IRIS, such notices cannot be treated as lawful. It further explained that defective service affects the limitation period for appeals under section 131, which starts from the date a taxpayer receives actual knowledge of the order, such as by obtaining a certified copy.
The ruling concluded that any recovery action initiated without proper legal service of notice is vulnerable, as it violates due process requirements.
