LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday set aside the decision of a tax appellant tribunal and restored a notice of Rs191.9 million issued to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) secretary general Jahangir Tareen by the Board of Revenue (BoR) for the recovery of agriculture tax.

A division bench headed by Justice Shahid Karim issued the order on an appeal filed by the BoR challenging the decision of the tax tribunal.

The board’s counsel argued that Mr Tareen had concealed his actual farm income.

On the other hand, the counsel for Jahangir Tareen opposed the appeal, saying that it was completely wrong that his client had concealed the details of his agriculture income. He said the tax was imposed on the land which Mr Tareen used for agriculture purpose. But, he added, his client was not the real owner of the land.

According to the relevant laws, agriculture tax could be imposed on the farmer if he owned it, the counsel argued, adding that as an agriculturist, Mr Tareen had paid the tax.

He requested the court to set aside the appeal.

The bench, however, allowed the BoR appeal and restored the agriculture income tax notice issued to Mr Tareen.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2017