Section 7E: Constitutional validity
Taxing immoveable property and taxing income arising from immoveable property are two different concepts. The former is the burden on immovable property whereas the latter is the burden on the…
Legal fiction, Section 7E & Constitution
The Elahi Cotton case (it is the most misunderstood and misapplied judgement) makes absolutely clear that any item to be taxed should rationally be capable of being considered as the…
Taxing what is not ‘income’—II
In the Shahid Pervaiz v Ejaz Ahmad and others 2017 SCMR 206, 14-member bench of Supreme Court held: “….where the Supreme Court deliberately and with the intention of settling the…
Overriding ‘doctrine of mutuality’
Through the Finance Act, 2021 [“the Act”], the Parliament has made an amendment with retrospective application to override the well-established principle that what is not “income” under the income tax…
FBR & tax appellate system
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is allegedly interfering in the quasi-judicial functions of Commissioners of Appeal Inland Revenue. A report published in an English daily, not this newspaper, on…
Erstwhile FATA/PATA
The FBR has recently issued the following circulars in respect of streamlining the exemptions available in the erstwhile FATA/PATA as discussed above. These are reproduced below for ready reference: “C.No.7(1)TIPU/IR/2020…
A rejoinder
In response to our article (Unconstitutional taxation by provinces, Business Recorder, January 3, 2020), a letter was published on January 9, 2020 titled ‘Unconstitutional’ taxation by provinces: SRB’s response’ that…
‘Unconstitutional’ taxation by provinces
The imposition of any kind of legislation that include levy of any tax or duty, cess etc having extraterritorial impact and involving entities operating on trans-provincial levels by any provincial…
Law of binding precedents – I
In view of the hierarchical character of the judicial system in Pakistan, it is of paramount importance that the law declared by courts should be certain, clear and consistent. Inconsistencies…
Random thoughts: Panama and our politics
The Supreme Court’s judgment that sent Nawaz Sharif home served as a dark moment for the PML-N and a source of salvation for the PTI. However, to an ordinary person,…
