ISLAMABAD: A five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court will begin hearing petitions on Sections 4B and 4C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, starting Monday, March 10.
The bench will be led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, with Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Aamer Farooq also presiding over the case.
A total of 354 petitions have been filed against Section 4B, and 182 petitions have been filed against Section 4C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. Section 4B, which introduced the Super Tax, was added through the Finance Act, 2015.
The Super Tax, introduced by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2015, applies to wealthy individuals, associations of persons, and companies earning above Rs 500 million. It levies a tax rate of 4% on the income of banking companies and 3% on other sectors, aimed at funding the rehabilitation of temporarily displaced persons.
A previous three-judge bench, led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, had expressed concerns in April 2023 about the lack of a final decision by high courts regarding the Super Tax imposed under Section 4C. Dr. Shah Nawaz, representing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), informed the court that intra-court appeals (ICAs) were pending before both the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The IHC is scheduled to address the ICAs on May 28.
