The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday declared the super tax, imposed by the federal government last year, as valid. However, the court reduced the rate of the super tax to 4 percent from 10 percent on 16 sectors, including fertilizer, tobacco and cement. Justice Jawad Hassan announced the verdict while partially allowing 387 petitions filed by various companies. The court had reserved the judgement on April 12, after hearing arguments of the parties and it was announced on Tuesday. The petitioners had challenged the retrospective application of Section 4C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 and the vires of the First Proviso to Division IIB of Part I of the First Schedule of the Ordinance, introduced through the Finance Act, 2022. The petitioners had submitted that the super tax could not be imposed retrospectively and that its imposition for the previous period was illegal. They had pleaded with the court to set aside the super tax for being illegal.