Lahore High Court dismisses 149 petitions

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed 149 petitions, challenging notices of Inland Revenue for payment of Income Support Levy.

The petitions were filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz and others. The single bench comprising Justice Asim Hafeez announced the verdict, which had been reserved after hearing the parties.

Earlier, the petitioners' counsel argued that their clients were registered taxpayers and they had always paid their taxes without default.

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They submitted that the Inland Revenue Department had issued notices to their clients for payment of the Income Support Levy.

They submitted that after the passage of the 18th Amendment, social welfare had become a provincial subject, whereas the Inland Revenue had not been empowered to collect it.

They submitted that collection of levy by the Inland Revenue was a violation of the constitution and pleaded with the court to set aside collection of the Income Support Levy by the Inland Revenue being illegal.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2019.