Published June 17, 2026 Updated about 2 hours ago By Sohail Sarfraz ISLAMABAD: To end litigation of trillions in court against taxpayers, National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance Tuesday endorsed Finance Bill’s 2026 proposal to create “Independent Case Scrutiny Committees” in all federal taxes to end filing of frivolous appeals at the High Courts by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Tax authorities informed the committee on Tuesday that it is a practice in the field formations of the FBR to file appeals against the orders of the taxpayers in high courts whether the appeal has legal grounds or not. This is due to fear of NAB, suspension or disciplinary proceedings against the tax officials in case appeals are not filed in higher courts against the taxpayers. To end this practice, Finance Bill 2026 has introduced “Independent Case Scrutiny Committees” in all federal taxes to end filing of frivolous appeals by the tax department before the High Courts. The Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA, met Tuesday at Parliament House, Islamabad, to continue its clause-by-clause consideration of the Finance Bill, 2026. The Committee reviewed a range of proposed amendments relating to customs and sales tax laws, tax administration reforms, penalty regimes, enforcement mechanisms, and measures aimed at improving compliance and dispute resolution. The Committee examined various reform proposals, including the introduction of faceless adjudication and faceless appeals to minimize direct interaction between taxpayers and tax officials, algorithm-based settlement mechanisms for the resolution of tax disputes. The Committee also reviewed amendments to the definition of Tier-1 retailers by removing the condition relating to debit and credit card machines, a proposal for reward-based tax collection for digitally compliant taxpayers, and the establishment of an Independent Scrutiny Committee headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court or High Court to determine whether tax litigation should be pursued. The Committee deliberated extensively on a proposal to increase the penalty on terminal operators from Rs. 0.5 million to…