Pak SC to hear Sharif family's petition against wealth tax

Pakistan Supreme Court will on February 18 take up the hearing of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif family's petitions against valuation of wealth tax on their shares in various companies.

The two-judge bench, consisting of Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Justice Faisal Arab will take up the petitions filed by Sharif.

The petitioners maintained that for four years, their wealth tax was assessed disproportionate to the market value of their stocks.

The Express Tribune quoted Malik Tariq Aziz, an advocate appearing on behalf of the Sharif family, as saying that he has been fighting this case for almost a decade.

Members of the Sharif family had challenged Rule 8 (2) (c) (1) of the Wealth Tax Act, 1963, in 2007, but the case was not taken up during the era of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Aziz while describing the background of this case said that Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif were directed by the Lahore tax commissioner to pay more than Rs. 10 million as wealth tax on the value of their business shares for financial years.

The petition stated that the valuation of their shares in 15 industries belonging to the family and others was repugnant to the Wealth Tax Act because it was calculated in excess of their face value and the market price.