On Thursday, the Supreme Court in ISLAMABAD denied an appeal in a case concerning income tax refunds in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s special status tribal districts. Qazi Faez Isa, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, reaffirmed the importance of paying taxes to the government for the privilege of living in Pakistan and using its resources.
The Chief Justice presided over a bench of three justices. Counsel for the petitioner, Riaz Hussain, contended that the K-P government and the customs agency had issued notifications regarding tax refunds for tribal residents, and that these notifications were discussed throughout the hearings.
The CJP questioned whether the petitioner was seeking unique notifications for Pakistan’s tribal territories. According to Justice Athar Minallah, a separate notification is required if tribal territories are to keep their unique status.
Since the petitioner lived in Pakistan and enjoyed its facilities, the CJP questioned the petitioner’s justification for refusing to pay a nominal amount of tax. He mentioned that infrastructure like roads and bridges as well as public facilities like schools were built using tax money.
To get his client’s tax refund of Rs3.7 million, the petitioner’s attorney argued that income tax could not be applied in these tribal areas. After the integration of the tribal territories into Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Justice Minallah remarked that the old status of the tribal areas was no longer valid.
The Supreme Court later ruled against the petitioner seeking a return of income taxes paid in areas having tribal status. Mansehra resident and petitioner Muhammad Tahir had petitioned for a refund of income tax paid in 2011, and the Income Tax Tribunal had ruled in his favour.
This judgement was temporarily halted by the Peshawar High Court, and on Thursday the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
