NA finance panel assails govt for sidestepping parliament over tax ordinance

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance has expressed its displeasure at bypassing of parliament and making legislation through promulgation of the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 for recovery of billions of rupees from taxpayers, soon after getting a verdict from the courts.

The NA panel, which met under the chairmanship of Naveed Qamar, directed the authorities for laying the ordinance before parliament for urgent action. “The government has urgency to promulgate the ordinance instead of making it part of the Finance Bill (2025-26). We have also the same urgency to review the ordinance,” the NA panel chairman said.

FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial argued that there was no abuse of power. The ordinance was cleared by the federal cabinet and President of Pakistan promulgated it.

The representative from the Ministry of Law and Justice informed the committee that the ordinance would be presented as bill in the current National Assembly session, which would subsequently be referred to the committee for consideration.

The FBR chairman requested the committee that the ordinance had a limited time period and the committee should give the board one to two months to see the operations of the ordinance. He explained that the Board only wanted to implement the orders of the high courts. The ordinance introduces only three carefully scoped amendments, addressing urgent legal, administrative, and enforcement gaps in the tax system.

The committee raised serious concerns over the eroding public confidence in the FBR and stressed that any legislative measures pertaining to the FBR must prioritise restoring public trust. Members also recommended enhancing the capacity of FBR officials in tax collection procedures to improve efficiency and facilitate taxpayers, thereby, contributing to greater revenue generation.