ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court will begin hearing petitions on December 1 challenging the Super Tax imposed on certain sectors under Sections 4B and 4C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
A three-judge bench of the FCC, headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Arshad Hussain, will take up the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) appeals against the judgments of Sindh, Lahore, and the Islamabad High Courts regarding the levy of Super Tax.
The FCC Registrar’s office has issued notices to all concerned parties with the direction to ensure their appearance or arrange representation before the court on the scheduled date.
The transfer of these cases to the FCC marks a significant development, as Section 4B (Super Tax) and Section 4C (Additional Tax on High-Income Earners and Corporates) remained subjects of legal dispute among major companies and the government.
A five-judge Constitut-ional Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, on October 24, 2025, had adjourned the hearing.
Super tax case: FBR counsel urges SC to set aside IHC ‘overreach’
Section 4B was inserted in the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 through the Finance Act, 2015 during the PML-N government had introduced Super Tax on rich individuals, association of persons and companies earning income above Rs500 million in tax year 2015 at rate of 4 percent of income of banking companies and 3 percent on other categories for rehabilitation of temporarily displaced persons through Finance Bill (2015-16).
The government inserted Section 4C in the Income Tax Ordinance through the Finance Act 2022, to charge the super tax from 13 specific sectors that, according to it, made windfall gains, taking their total income tax rate to 39%. The government had imposed the super tax on banks, cement, iron, steel, sugar, oil and gas, fertilisers, LNG terminals, textiles, automobiles, cigarettes, beverages, chemicals, and airlines. The super tax under Section 4C was imposed on profits of wealthy corporations whose earnings exceeded Rs150 million, to ease the impact of the rising inflation on the poor. The FBR had projected Rs250bn from the imposition of the super tax in FY23.
Several companies then approached all the provincial High Courts and the Islamabad High Court, challenging the super tax.
Meanwhile, the FCC two-member bench comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Rozi Khan Barrech will hear the case of renowned journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder on December 3.
Arshad was shot and killed in Kenya (allegedly) by local police on 23 October 2022. The Kenyan police described the shooting as a case of “mistaken identity”.
A single bench of the Islamabad High Court Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas on August 29, 2025, turned down a petition of journalist Hamid Mir and Arshad Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique, seeking the constitution of the judicial commission to investigate late journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder. The IHC judge stated that Suo Moto, taken by the former Chief Justice of Pakistan on December 22, 2022, had been sub judice before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, all suomotu cases have since been transferred to the Federal Constitutional Court, giving it jurisdiction over such matters.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025