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ISLAMABAD, Jan 21 (APP):The Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of an important constitutional case relating to the super tax until Thursday, January 22.
The case was heard by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.
After preliminary arguments, the court deferred further proceedings to the next date of hearing.
During the hearing, counsel for various companies, Jamal Ahmed Sakhira, argued that the performance of tax authorities was like a leaking water tank—revenue does come in, but is lost due to systemic weaknesses. He said that even today it has not been clearly determined which sectors should be taxed in the country.
Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi remarked that despite everything being known, implementation was lacking. He further observed that providing large vehicles to government officers had not resulted in any improvement in tax collection.
Jamal Ahmed Sakhira informed the court that in certain cases the minimum tax rate had reached up to 15 percent. However, FBR’s counsel Asma Hamid countered the claim, stating that the minimum tax rate was only 1.5 percent.
Sakhira further argued that the most critical legal issue in the super tax case was that the tax had been imposed not only on the current financial year but also retrospectively on the previous year, which he said was against constitutional principles. He told the court that he would present further arguments on behalf of certain petroleum companies at the next hearing.
The court was also informed that Jamal Ahmed Sakhira, representing Fauji Fertilizer and other companies, would continue his arguments in the upcoming hearing.
The Federal Constitutional Court subsequently adjourned further hearing of the super tax case until Thursday, January 22.