SC directs govt to resolve tax issue on prepaid mobile cards
1 min readISLAMABAD: The federal government should resolve the advance tax issue on pre-paid cellular phone cards as the government cannot collect the tax from poor people, the Supreme Court issues direction to the federal government.
Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa directed the government to make a new system through which the poor customers of the mobile phone companies were not be charged tax.
The Attorney General apprised the court that every customers of the mobile companies will have to pay tax in advance on each pre-paid mobile card. He further informed that a low income person, who was not bound to pay tax as per law, could avail the refund facility.
On this suggestion, the court asked how can a handcart pusher or poor vendar approach to the income tax commissioner?” Justice Ijazul Ahsan said that the state should be sincere with its citizens and added that it should not siphoned money from people’s pocket in this way.
The chief justice further asked how many people demand for refund? It seems that the state considers every citizen taxable. The lawyer said that the apex court had suspended the tax deduction act and caused the loss of Rs 90 billion to the government exchequer.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan said the government provides relief to masses and on the other side put its hand in people’s pocket. The court adjourned the hearing of the case till April 24.