SC seeks details of last year’s tax collection on cellular calls

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday directed the federal and provincial governments to submit details of the tax collected on the cellular calls during last year, ARY News reported.

The apex court took up the case pertaining to excessive tax collection on the cellular calls, here today.

The honourable court in its remarks said that according to the federal and provincial governments the matter of collecting tax on cellular calls does not fall under article 184-3.

“What is the role of the parliament”, Justice Qazi Faez Isa asked and added that is parliament only responsible to collect tax?

The court later recommended to transfer the matter to a three member bench of the Supreme Court and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.

Read more: 100 for 100: No tax deduction on mobile top-up from today

In June, 2018, the Supreme Court had suspended the deduction of taxes imposed on the top-up of prepaid cards by cellphone service providers and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

A three-judge bench comprising of the then chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Umar Ata Bandial, had heard the case at the apex court’s Lahore registry.

The court had directed that a comprehensive policy regarding tax on mobile phone cards should be charted out.