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LAHORE, July 4: The Lahore High Court on Friday directed the Punjab Advocate-General to justify the imposition of uniform property tax in the metropolis under the provisions of the amended Urban Immovable Property Tax Act 1958.
These instructions were issued by the court on a petition challenging the basis for collecting property tax at uniform rates. The court also directed AG Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi to update it on the scope of the Section 5-A being inserted in the 1958 act through the Finance Act 1998.
The petitioner, Advocate Muhammad Azhar, argued that no statute provided the guidelines for the introduction of uniform property tax rates without taking into account the age group, the location and the construction type of the properties located in different parts of the city. “The Section 5-A of the Urban Immovable Property Tax Act 1958 is violative of the principle of equality, as the government cannot ask the poor to pay the same amount of property tax which it demands from those living in posh localities,” the counsel argued.
WAPDA: The court issued notice to Wapda on a petition challenging the recent increase in electricity rates.
Petitioner M D Tahir submitted that Wapda had once again increased the electricity tariff without any justification. The tariff had been increasing at regular intervals, making it difficult for the consumers to pay their electricity bills.
