In a major relief for the government’s revenue collection efforts, the Supreme Court allowed a 4% super-tax on all industries on Thursday, overturning an old court judgement.

Sindh High Court had overturned the tax which had originally been introduced in the 2022 budget.

Also dubbed a ‘poverty alleviation tax’, the tax was levied at 4% on all industries but 10% on thirteen selected industries. It was supposed to be a one-time tax only.

Miftah Ismail, who was finance minister at the time, had clarified how the taxes would work in a tweet.

“This is a one-time tax needed to curtail the previous four record budget deficits,” Miftah had said.

However, in Thursday’s judgement the court told ‘all parties’ to pay a 4% tax.

The thirteen industries that were originally subjected to a 10% tax instead of 4% included:

• cement
• steel
• sugar
• oil and gas
• fertiliser
• LNG
• textile
• banks
• automobile
• beverages
• chemicals
• tobacco sectors

Industries in Pakistan already pay 29% tax, and this one time tax was an addition on top of it.

The relief for the govt comes a day after it introduced a mini-budget to raise Rs170 bn in revenue to fulfill IMF’s conditions.