ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the counsel for the Fed­eral Board of Revenue (FBR) to submit details about the status of appeals filed by the Sharif family against the levy of wealth tax.

A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the pleas filed by the Sharif family against the levy of wealth tax.

During the course of hearing, the FBR counsel said that the board had issued a notice of additional tax to the Sharif family over late payment. The Sharif family had challenged the FBR notice in the Lahore High Court, he added.

Justice Bandial asked the counsel when the Sharif family had filed an application for the tax refund.

Justice Shah said the FBR had issued the first notice to the Sharif family in 1997, and then issued the notice of additional tax after five years, in 2002. He asked why the FBR kept waiting for five years.

Justice Munib Akhtar asked the FBR counsel to inform the court about the status of appeals filed by the Sharif family against the levy of wealth tax.

He said the Tax Appellant Authority might have decided in favour of the Sharif family, adding that the family had filed the petition in the LHC against additional tax.

The counsel sought time from the court for getting fresh instructions from the FBR in the case.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2021