This is a clean, quotable precedent that every tax practitioner should file away. In Muhammad Afzal's reference (76 of 2025) against the Commissioner (Appeals)-IV, Inland Revenue, the Sindh High Court (Justice Agha Faisal, author; Justice Shah Nawaz Memon) answered the question of law in the taxpayer's favour — and the answer is categorical.
Under section 129 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the Commissioner (Appeals) is not empowered to remand a matter back to the assessing officer. The bench followed the binding ratio of the Supreme Court in Commissioner Inland Revenue v. M/s Seven Star Sugar Mills (Pvt.) Limited, Karachi (2026 SCMR 69).
Why does this matter so much in practice? Because remand-by-appeal is one of the most frustrating experiences in tax litigation. You appeal an assessment, wait months, and instead of a decision you get the case sent back down to the same assessing officer for a fresh round — the dispute restarts, the timeline stretches, and the taxpayer pays the price of delay. The High Court has now shut that door: the appellate forum must decide the appeal itself; it cannot outsource the decision back to the officer whose order is under challenge.
The practical use is immediate. If the Commissioner (Appeals) remands your case to the assessing officer instead of deciding it, that order is without jurisdiction — cite this judgment and 2026 SCMR 69. For the department, the discipline is equally clear: defend assessments at the appellate level properly the first time, because there is no second bite via remand. Faisla upar hona chahiye — neeche wapas bhejna ab qanoonan mumkin nahi.