Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 18B,219,25B,30,32,79, ScheduleI

Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 18B,219,25B,30,32,79, ScheduleI

Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969) - Section 18B - Levy of service charge - Validity - Service charges levied through an amendment made by the Tax Adjustment Ordinance, 1996 - Whether levy is not a tax and cannot be considered to be an additional duty of customs - Held yes - Whether the levy can be justified as a fee - Held no - Provisions introduced by Tax Adjustment Ordinance, 1996 - Whether ultra vires the Constitution and of no effect- Held yes. Although it is true that it is the pith and substance of the levy and not its nomenclature which determines its true nature but in the present case, it is obvious that both in name as also in substance the levy is not a tax and cannot be considered to be an additional duty of customs. It is aximomatic that a duty of customs is a tax which is levied on the import and export of goods. The taxable event in such a case is the import or export as the case may be. According to section 18 of the Customs Act, 1969 which is the charging section, the customs duty is levied at such rates as may be prescribed in the First and Second Schedule or any other law of the time being in force on the goods imported or exported in Pakistan. Neither First nor the Second Schedule contemplates payment of any service charge on the import of goods and, therefore, the impugned levy is outside the purview of section 18 of the customs Act, 1969. On the question as to whether the impugned levy can be justified as a fee, the first thing to be noted is that according to the stand of Mr. Izhar ul Haq, learned counsel for the respondents, the impugned charge is not a fee and has not been levied in lieu of any service rendered to the petitioners. There is thus no element of quid pro quo and therefore the charge is not sustainable as a fee. In view of what has been stated above, all these petitions are allowed and it is declared that section 18-B of the Customs Act, 1969 as introduced by Tax Adjustments Ordinance, 1996 and notifications issued pursuant thereto are ultra vires the Constitutions and are of no effect. Cases referred to: Suhail Jute Mills Ltd. and others v. Federation of Pakistan, etc. (PLD 1991 SC 329); Nishat Tek Ltd., Lahore v. The…

Deprecated: trim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/digixyei/sldsystempk.com/view/master-layout/view_case.php on line 492