FTO’s orders: President dismisses 2 sets of representations by FBR

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has dismissed two sets of representations filed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) against orders of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) that safeguard the classified and confidential financial data of citizens, upholding the FTO’s findings of maladministration in their entirety. In a landmark order, the President of Pakistan has affirmed taxpayers’ constitutional right to fiscal privacy. Tax lawyer, Waheed Shahzad Butt who is representing the taxpayers before FTO and President told this correspondence that two orders arise out of six identical complaints filed by six family members against a senior tax employee posted as Additional Commissioner Inland Revenue, over the unauthorized disclosure of their confidential, classified and critical infrastructure, without any lawful authority but in worst contradiction of protection provided under Section 216 of the ITO, 2001. While the FTO’s original order dated 15. 04. 2026 had found no maladministration treating the cross-insertion of data as internal administrative analysis among related taxpayers, the complainants pursued a review. In its Order-in-Review dated, the FTO reversed course, holding categorically that the confidential tax information of one taxpayer ought never to have been expressly reproduced or incorporated into the assessment order of another taxpayer, and that such material should instead have been utilized “in confidence for official purposes” only. The Chief Commissioner was directed to personally examine the matter, issue corrective directions: Waheed added On June 29, 2026, disposing of a rectification petition, the FTO made this relief fully effective, directing FBR to examine every assessment order identified in the review and ensure that the petitioners’ confidential information is “no longer disclosed or made accessible to any person not lawfully entitled to receive such information, ” with compliance to be reported within thirty days. FBR challenged both orders before the President contending that the FTO had no jurisdiction to review its own review order, and that cross-referencing wealth accretion among related family taxpayers under Sections 85, 108 and 109 of the ITO, 2001 was legally necessary to establish the true nature of income. Both representations were heard together by the President. WaqasHanif appeared for FBR, while Dr. Usman along with WaheedShahzad Butt and AzharShafiqManj (CFO), appeared for the respondents. Rejecting FBR’s stance, the President observed that “notwithstanding the merits of departmental argument, it would have been more appropriate if the said information had been utilized in confidentiality to the extent of official record of the taxpayers rather than being expressly incorporated into the assessment orders of associate taxpayers. ” The order further held that every taxpayer, “regardless of his relationship, ” is legally entitled to have his return examined strictly on its own merits, and found “no infirmity” in the FTO’s decision. Both representations were accordingly dismissed, and the FTO’s orders upheld in their entirety. Commenting on the decision, Waheed Butt, the tax rights advocate who represented the complainants, termed the outcome “a milestone vindication of every citizen’s constitutional right to fiscal privacy and dignity under Article 14 of the Constitution, ” and urged FBR to institutionalize safeguards against cross-leakage of taxpayer data across all RTO/LTO, rather than treating it as an isolated matter. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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