Appearing before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, Advocate Muhammad Habib Qureshi on behalf of the FBR contended that Lahore High Court Multan bench had fallen in error by dismissing the department petition by wrongly dealing a question which was not before it.
Three Star Paper Cone Industries Multan filed tax return in 2004 declaring total sale of Rs 960,435 and then sought benefit of Section 113-a of Income Tax Ordinance 2001 for minimum tax under the pretext to supply their product for consumption of general public.
Assessing officer converted the manufacturer statement filed under Section 113-a invoking the provision of Section 122 (1) of the ITO 2001 into statement under Section 115 (4) of the Ordinance by charging tax @ 3.5 per cent. The manufacturer challenged the order before Commissioner of Income Tax who cancelled the amended assessment made under Section 122 of the ITO 2001 restoring the order of assessment finalised under Section 62 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1979 (repealed) vide his order of May 19, 2007.
The department filed the second appeal before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Lahore which dismissed the same on October 18, 2007 while upholding the finding of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) Multan. Consequently, the department invoked the Lahore High Court, Multan Bench, jurisdiction in the matter. Dictating its order on Monday, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said that the learned Lahore High Court, Multan Bench, on April 7, 2008 had inadvertently overlooked the question in a tax reference and disposed of the same which is not correct view of the law.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017