Parliamentary committee investigates case pileup at Tax Appeal Tribunal

The backlog of cases at the Tax Appeal Tribunal has prompted an inquiry by the Parliament’s Judiciary Committee.

A credible source told Sun the tribunal has 19 unfinished cases that were submitted back in 2019. According to the law, the tribunal is required to finish cases within 180 days of submission.

In a letter to the tribunal, the committee said it had received complaints the tribunal did not even hold meetings to establish additional time to look into cases when it fails to finish cases within the legally mandated timeframe.

The committee asked the tribunal for details on cases submitted since December 2019, including the progress of each case.

The Tax Appeal Tribunal is composed of five members appointed by the President. The tribunal’s president receives a monthly pay of MVR 33,000 and other members MVR 26,000.

Past and present employees of the tribunal told Sun that the tribunal’s members were too heavily involved in administrative affairs, and severely neglectful of their actual mandate.

“The staff are very unhappy. Some have resigned,” said one employee.

The tribunal was not immediately available for comment.