ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of a case regarding mobile phone tax till Wednesday.
The court observed that the government should act honesty on the tax matters and stressed that tax procedures should be made easy for citizens so that it could be determined by Identity cards that who was a taxpayer and who was not.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa heard the case and remarked that the state considered that the citizen himself would indicate whether he or she would pay tax or not.
The chief justice asked how many people demand refund of advance tax and we have to see that when and how much tax would be applicable.
He remarked that the court would also have to consider whether the government enforced the law correctly or not. A huge amount was withdrawn from the pockets of masses due to the law.
On a court’s query, Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan said every client pay advance tax on a mobile card and a consumer on whom income tax was not applicable could demand a refund.
The counsel for Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said Rs 90 billion tax was not collected due to suspension of one point of tax collection law by the apex court.
The chief justice responded that the court could void a law but it could not suspend a law.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that the court would also have to review utility tax along with income tax.
Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan remarked that the court had only suspended the recovery of withholding tax but not suspended the law. According to the law if a person was not applicable of tax then he would have to get a certificate from Commissioner Income Tax, he added.
He remarked that the state should be sincere with its citizens.
He remarked that advance tax was income tax according to the definition and how could a consumer pay tax who did not fall in the category of taxpayers.
He remarked that the court wanted that the government should form such a mechanism that non-filers should not have to pay the tax.
