LHC upholds tax on foreign assets

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Justice Asim Hafeez has upheld imposition of tax on foreign assets of PMLQ leader Moonis Elahi and others and rejected the petitions challenging the federal tax as non-maintainable.

The court remarked that, prima facie, the government could question expatriate Pakistanis about their properties and could levy tax. The court said it could summon the record about how the Pakistani citizens staying overseas made their properties.

“The federal government cannot recover tax on these properties,” the petitioner’s lawyer said, adding the government could only inquire about income. He pleaded for the court order to submit tax returns on the e-portal without fine.

As per case details, Moonis Elahi is among 30 people who moved the LHC against the federal government’s decision to slap tax on their properties abroad.