LAHORE: Chairman Watan Party Barrister Zafarullah has challenged the federal government decision to impose tax on fee remitted abroad in Supreme Court Lahore registry.
In his application, Barrister Zafarullah argued that to impose any tax on financial help of students is an unconstitutional and illegal. He said that the government cannot impose tax on such sort of remittances. It is violation of the constitution and this tax can destroy the future of thousands of Pakistani students who are studying abroad.
The federal government, through Finance Bill 2015-16, has imposed five percent advance tax on money remitted abroad for education purposes.
The government was already charging 5 percent tax on fee exceeding Rs 200,000 for those who are studying in local educational institutions.
Sources said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) obtained figures and data from the State Bank of Pakistan regarding those who were sending money abroad for educating their children.
The Finance Bill 2015-16 also proposed powers for the tax machinery to sign bilateral or multilateral agreements with other countries for exchange of information. This proposed amendment will enable the tax authorities to exchange information from Dubai and Switzerland where influential have parked their dirty untaxed money.
