Peshawar High Court declares levy of excise duty on hand-stemmed tobacco illegal
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has declared that Federal Excise Duty (FED) couldn’t be imposed on green leaf and hand-stemmed tobacco unless it has been processed and converted by a green leaf threshing (GLT) unit. A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali disposed of 14 petitions filed by some tobacco growers, tobacco companies and GLT units, challenging the…
Peshawar High Court has ruled that excise duty cannot be levied on hand-stemmed and green leaf tobacco unless it has been processed and converted by a green leaf threshing (GLT) unit, according to a 29-page judgment. A bench of Justices Syed Arshad Ali and Mohammad Faheem Wali dismissed 14 petitions filed by tobacco growers, companies, and GLT units challenging the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on hand-stemmed tobacco.
The court emphasized that authorities could retain seized goods for up to 15 days to pass an order after providing the affected party an opportunity to be heard if they claimed the seized stock had been processed by a GLT unit. The court also directed the release of 3,375 kg of hand-stemmed tobacco and a seized vehicle belonging to M/s Pak Hills Tobacco Company, setting aside the FED demand.
However, the court left the issue of sales tax liability on the consignment to be determined by law.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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