LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Monday given a big relief to the agriculturalists by stopping the Punjab government from collecting agricultural income tax from them till its next order.
The court halted the collection of agricultural income tax without estimation. It issued notices to the Punjab government and other parties and sought reply. While hearing a petition filed by the Nishat Farming regarding the agricultural income tax, Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza inquired how the agrarian income tax was being levied without carrying out any estimation.
Muhammad Mohsin Virk advocate appeared before the court on behalf of the petitioner. He argued that no direct agrarian income tax could be collected without carrying out an estimation.
The lawyer said that collection of direct agricultural income tax was violation of the Punjab Agricultural Income Tax Rules, 2001. Besides this, after filing the return file to the FBR, the collection of the direct income tax is also a violation of Punjab Agricultural Income Tax Act 1997, Clause 3, he added.
The petition requested the court to declare collection of direct agrarian income tax without carrying out an estimation as null and void. It also pleaded with the court to halt collection of tax till the final decision of the case. However, the Punjab government lawyer told the court that government was collecting tax as per the rules.