Draft changes seek to revise the jurisdiction of Independent Scrutiny Committees under the Income Tax Rules, 2002.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has proposed amendments to the Independent Scrutiny Committees Rules by issuing a draft notification to revise the jurisdiction of the committees constituted under the Income Tax Rules, 2002.

The proposed amendments have been issued through S.R.O. 1239(I)/2026, published under the powers conferred by Section 133A(4) read with Section 237(1) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

According to the notification, the draft amendments have been published for public information, and the FBR has invited objections and suggestions within three days of publication in the official Gazette. Any feedback received within the prescribed period will be considered before the amendments are finalized.

The proposed changes relate to Rule 231CB, specifically sub-rule (3) governing the composition and jurisdiction of the Independent Scrutiny Committees.

Under the draft amendments:

Committee No. 1: The expression “CTO Islamabad” will be omitted from paragraph (iv) in column (4) of the table against Serial Numbers 1, 2 and 3.

Committee No. 2: The existing reference to “RTO Lahore” will be replaced with “RTO-I Lahore, RTO-II Lahore” in paragraph (iv) for Serial Numbers 1, 2 and 3.

Committee No. 3: The reference to “CTO Karachi” will be substituted with “CTO-I Karachi, CTO-II Karachi” in paragraph (iv) against Serial Numbers 1, 2 and 3.

The amendments are intended to align the Independent Scrutiny Committees with the current organizational structure of the Inland Revenue field formations following the creation of separate Regional Tax Offices and Corporate Tax Offices.

The FBR has urged all stakeholders and affected persons to submit their objections or recommendations within the stipulated period before the amendments are notified in final form.