Syntax of Sales Tax on Services
By Asfandyar Khan Tareen

What is
sales tax on services? Who has the legislative competence over sales tax on
services after the Eighteenth Amendment? How is the Constitution expounded? Why
are the tax entries of a written Constitution separate from general entries? Is
liberal interpretation of legislative entries even possible after the
Eighteenth Amendment? How are the questions of distribution of legislative
powers dealt with in other countries like USA, Australia, Canada and India? What
tests are employed by the judges in differentiating between a good and a
service? What are the territorial limitations of a provincial tax? Is it
constitutionally permissible for a provincial tax like sales tax on services to
extend its statutory jurisdiction on federal corporations and instrumentalities
performing sovereign functions of the State? How should or should not the
powers be delegated?and What
are the broad principles of judicial review in relation to vires of statute and
administrative actions? What are judicial and, quasi-judicial powers? What is
the importance of due process and natural justice in assessment proceedings? What
are the basic ingredients of a valid show- cause notice and a speaking order?
Is res judicata applicable to the departmental proceedings? Is it possible to
compute tax on presumptions and average sales? What are the recovery powers available
with a tax officer? What are the canons for interpretation of tax laws?and

This
handbook is a pioneer writing on sales tax on services in Pakistan, through
which a unique attempt has been made in lucidly answering the above questions
with a clear mind and succinct expression to illuminate the understanding of
the readers about this evolving tax and its propositions with crisp
discussions, supported by hundreds of reported cases (national and international).
Without appreciating the syntax of sales tax on services in our written
Constitution, the justice to the subject could not have been possible. It is
for this reason that this handbook devotes its focus on Constitutional, Tax and
Administrative law so that the judges, practitioners, officers, students and
taxpayers can derive assistance from this carefully written and all-encompassing
treatise.