RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Excise and Taxation Department will start registering vacant plots in Rawalpindi region after Eidul Fitr to impose taxes on them. The tax was introduced by the Punjab government in 2016-17 budget.

According to the budget document, if a person holds a plot for more than two years he will pay the tax.

The excise and taxation department has no record of the vacant plots in the district so it decided to launch the registration campaign in all the districts after Eidul Fitr.

According to the plan, the plots have been categorized in A, B and C. The tax on category A plot will be Rs4.60 per square feet, category B Rs1.64. In this way an owner of 10 marla residential plot of A-category will pay Rs800 tax whereas a commercial plot owner of the same category will pay Rs4,000.

When contacted, Punjab Excise and Taxation Department Director Tanveer Gondal said that tax on vacant residential and commercial plots would be charged from July 1.

“After the survey, the actual price of the land will be determined by the department as per market value of the area,” he said.  

“The tax recovery rate has already been increased in 2015-16 and the new tax will generate more money for the province,” he said.

He said the government had set Rs3.79 billion target for the department and the department been able to recover Rs3.70 billion until June 30. “For the first time, the tax recovery rate increased in Rawalpindi circle which is more than 78 per cent of the total target,” he said.

However, the new tax on vacant plots drew strong reaction from the opposition parties.

PTI MPA Arif Abbasi said the government imposed new taxes on the people just to waste the money on unnecessary projects like orange train and other development works in Lahore.

“The PML-N government has brought rural areas into tax net but it did not give any facility of clean drinking water, drainage system and roads and streets there,” he said.

He said mostly people invest in plots for future to bear expenses of marriage of their daughters and sons as well as education of the children.

“The rich is becoming richer and poor poorer due to the policies of the PML-N led government. Instead of improving the health facilities in the city and rural areas, the government spends money on metro buses and trains,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016