AYESHA A. MALIK, J.---Through this petition, the petitioner has impugned the rejection of its application filed under Section 159(I) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, ( "Ordinance" ) for issuance of exemption certificate.
2. Learned counsel for the Petitioner states that the Petitioner claimed tax credit under Section 65D of the Ordinance for the tax period 01.09.2014 till 31.08.2019. This request was denied on the ground that there is no provision in the Ordinance to grant exemption certificate for the purposes of tax exemption. Learned counsel for the Petitioner argued that this matter has already been decided by this Court in "Messrs Nishat Diary (Pvt.) Ltd through Company Secretary v. Commissioner Inland Revenue and 4 others" (2013 PTD 1883 ) and in I.C.A.
No,799/2013 dated 18.03.2014 titled "Commissioner Inland Revenue v. Nishat Dairy (Pvt.) Ltd." Wherein it was held that for the purposes of grant of exemption certificate, tax credit and tax exemption are the same as benefits available to the taxpayer to reduce their tax liability . Hence the Petitioner is entitled to the tax exemption under Section 65D of the Ordinance.
3. Report and parawise comments have been filed by the Respondents. It is state d by the learned counsel for the Respondents Nos. 5 and 6 that since the law does not provide for tax exemption under Section 65D of the Ordinance, hence the application of the Petitioner has been rightly rejected.
4. At the very outset, it its noted that this matter has been settled by this Court in 2013 PTD 1883 (supra) and in I.C.A. No,799/2013 dated 18.03.2014 titled "Commissioner Inland Revenue v. Nishat Dairy (Pvt.) Ltd". Therefore, there is no merit in the arguments of the learned counsel for Respondents. As per the judgment of this Court, since the Petitioner is entitled for tax exemption under Section 65D of the Ordinance it may be considered for this benefit at the beginning of the year rather than wait for adjustment at the end of the year. Furthermore, the Commissioner has to convey the entitlement for tax exemption under Section 65D of the Ordinance and issue a certificate accordingly . Consequently , this petition is allowed and Respondent No,6 is directed to consider its case for issuance of exemption certificate on merit and decide it accordingly .