LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday heard a petition against the collection of General Sales Tax (GST) in electricity bills.
Justice Shujaat Ali Khan heard a petition by a citizen Nasir Salman against collecting GST through electricity bills. The court issued a notice to other respondents including the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and WAPDA and sought their response on August 22.
The petitioner had made the Prime Minister, President of Pakistan, Principal Secretary, FBR, Chairman WAPDA, Law Minister, and Ministry of Information as respondents in the petition.
The plaintiff a new is being collected from small traders and retailers through electricity bills which is illegal. He said traders who are not consuming even a single unit of electricity have to pay it.
The petitioner said the hollow claims of the government against inflation have been exposed. He said the prime minister is no longer ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Amin’ (honest and trustworthy).
He also urged to court to ask the prime minister about the exorbitant increase in prices of petrol, gas, electricity, medicines and other essential items. The petitioner urged the LHC to nullify the orders of GST collection on electricity bills.
After the initial hearing, LHC Justice Shujaat Ali Khan sought a response from FBR, WAPDA and other respondents. The hearing has been adjourned until August 22.
The federal government through Finance Bill 2022-23 imposed fixed regime tax on the shopkeepers through electricity bills.
Earlier, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had barred the collection of Rs 6,000 fixed monthly GST in the electricity bills from lawyers.
The LHC Rawalpindi bench heard the matter on the petition filed by Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bar Association over the collection of sales tax from lawyer’s chambers.
Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh declared illegal the move to impose general sales tax up to six thousand rupees on electricity bills from lawyer’s chambers.
The bench said the collection of GST in electricity bills has been nullified and the amount should be returned to the lawyers. The court observed that lawyers are not the retailers or shopkeepers on whom sales tax is applicable.
[embedpost slug=”lhc-stops-collection-of-fixed-sales-tax-from-lawyers/”]
