PHC stops income, sales tax recovery on power bills

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday stopped income tax and sales tax recovery on the electricity bills of Steel Mills established in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

A division bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Ghazanfar Khan issued the restraining order in a writ petition filed by owners of 15 Steels Mills in Fata. The bench issued notices to the federal government, Tribal Electric Supply Company and commissioner In-Land Revenue. They were directed to submit reply before the next hearing.

During hearing, the petitioners' lawyer Shumail Ahmad Butt submitted that all these mills were established in Fata and the federal government was recovering the income tax and sales tax in the electricity bills from the mills.

He argued that the taxes were not extended to Fata, adding that the government had only imposed these taxes on the Steel Mills and not on other industrial units in the region. The lawyer said Fata falls in backward areas of the country and the government should encourage the industry's development in Fata, not to impose unlawful taxes to further discourage the industry in the tribal region. The petitioners requested the court to stop the government from recovering the taxes.