Rawalpindi, (Online): Excise department has sent notices to owners of one, two, three and five Marla houses for payment of property tax and outstanding dues despite 5 Marla homes being exempted from property tax.
According to media reports, these tax notices were sent to hundreds and thousands of property owners in the city. During former president Pervaiz Musharraf regime five Marla small houses were exempted from property tax but now again owners of these houses have been served notices for payment of property tax and its outstanding dues.
An owner of one Marla houses said that he received tax notice of Rs 13,000 against his one Marla property and now it has said that if he pays tax of Rs 7,500 then the remaining tax will be exempted.
The owners of five Marla properties have appealed to chief minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to save them from highhandedness of excise department officials who have threatened that their houses will be sealed if they don’t pay the dues which are running outstanding since the last 13 years.
When we are exempted from property tax then why we are being harassed by excise department, they questioned.
Excise officials said that audit Paras have been made on these outstanding dues as government had ordered in year 2012 to recover these dues without taking any strict action against defaulters.
On the other hand, audit authorities have said that at least notices be sent to owners of the homes against whom outstanding dues stand. Notices are being issued to such properties but these will not be sealed.
