Notices To Govt For Imposing Duty On Importers’ Goods
Justice Shahid Jamil of the Lahore High Court issued notices to the federal government, Customs Collector and Customs Intelligence to submit documents in a petition filed by Zain Enterprise, challenging the payment of extra tax duty to the custom collectors on goods imported from other countries.
Advocate Sheraz Zaka argued that the valuation of imported goods at Karachi, Islamabad and Multan was taking place at house airway bill. But the importers in Lahore were paying three times more duty at master airway bill. This is confiscatory in nature and is a discriminatory practice. He argued that the entire customs department including Customs Collector and Customs Intelligence Inspector Mian Yasin had exploited the whole situation for their own vested interests. He said that the Customs Department was imposing an equal tax on all importers and completely ignoring the weight of different goods. He requested the court to order the relevant departments to submit documents explaining what procedure they had adopted while charging this duty on importers’ goods.
