Hearing In Super Tax Case Adjourned Until Thursday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Oct, 2025) The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of petitions related to the super tax until Thursday after the counsel for the taxpayer companies could not conclude his arguments.

The five-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, took up the case. During the proceedings, Advocate Farogh Naseem, representing the taxpayer companies, argued that the language of the tax law differed between the years 1922 and 1976.

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail questioned how a super tax could be imposed on a system already subject to taxation. Naseem responded that super tax or surcharge could only be applied once income was assessed. He illustrated that if an account opened in January 2021 was closed in December 2021, a tax would be imposed six months later, despite the taxpayer already having paid earlier. He stressed that the super tax applies on income but nowhere is it described as an additional tax, nor does Section 4C mention such a levy.

The counsel further contended that a taxpayer could choose to pay under either Section 4 or Section 4C. Justice Mandokhail asked under what law such an option existed, to which Naseem replied that it was a general principle of taxation that a taxpayer may select between two similar provisions.

Drawing an analogy, Justice Mandokhail remarked that in criminal law, if two sections apply to the same offence, punishment is awarded under the section with the lesser penalty. Naseem agreed, stating that the same principle applied here and that double taxation was not permissible.

At one point, Justice Mandokhail observed that Naseem himself had served as a parliamentarian and asked who drafted the law in question. Naseem replied that he was not the one who had drafted Section 4C.

Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned until Thursday, when Farogh Naseem will continue presenting arguments on behalf of various taxpayer companies.