Pleas against income support levy dismissed

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday dismissed hundreds of petitions challenging imposition of income support levy. A single bench, comprised of Justice Asim Hafeez, announced its verdict on 149 petitions, including a plea filed by the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shahbaz, against the income support levy. The petitioners challenging the Income Support Levy Act 2013 pleaded the Act was repugnant to Article 73 of the Constitution. They said they were registered taxpayers and also paying Zakat in accordance with the Fiqah (religious law) regularly without any default. The petitioners’ counsels argued that their clients were issued notices for recovery of tax under the income support levy law.