Petition against agriculture income tax: LHC seeks report from federal government

The Lahore High Court has sought a report from the federal government on a petition against the levy of the agricultural income tax. Petitioner Zubair Shaukat has challenged the imposition of tax through his counsel Zia Haider Rizvi, stating that only the provincial government could charge and recover the tax.
Rizvi argued: "It is the Punjab Revenue Authority under the Punjab agricultural Income Tax Act, 1997 which is empowered to collect the agricultural income tax, whereas the federal government was not the competent authority to collect the same." He further stated that the petitioner has agricultural land in Sheikhupura and declared it in his income tax return for the past many years. "Under the 18th Amendment it is the prerogative of the Punjab government, and not the federal government, to collect and recover agricultural income tax u/s 111 of the 2001 Income Tax Ordinance," he added.