LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday finally paid the luxury tax amounting to Rs1.44m to the Excise & Taxation Department for his Zaman Park residence spread over seven kanals.

According to a document, available with Dawn, the Rs1.440m cash has been deposited as luxury house tax with the department’s account at the National Bank of Pakistan.

“The department had earlier issued notice in first week of May, advising the owners of the property (listed in the name of Ms Shaukat Khanum) to pay Rs1.440m tax till May 12. But they didn’t pay the tax. Therefore, another notice was issued with a direction to pay tax till May 22. Finally, it was paid on Monday,” an official source explained while talking to Dawn.

It merits mention that the department, on April 13, had served a notice on Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore and sought information about the property size and other details to calculate the luxury tax. Through this notice, the department had informed the owners of the property (registered in the name Shaukat Khanum) that the provincial government had imposed a luxury tax from July 2014 under Section 8 of the Punjab Finance Act 2014.

It also directed the owners to furnish the information in the enclosed form (LT-I Rule 3(1)) within seven days from the receipt of the letter.

The short letter was addressed to Imran Khan’s deceased mother, Shaukat Khanum. The objective of the preliminary notice was to collect information about the current status of the residence ahead of assessing and imposing the luxury house tax.

According to the department, the previous house, which was built on the plot in 1970, was demolished in 2018. The construction of a new house was completed in 2020, which fell under the category of a luxury house. Under the Punjab Finance Act 2014, a house measuring two kanals or above with a covered area of more than 6,000 sq ft whose construction was completed between Jan 1, 2001, and June 30, 2022, would attract a tax at the rate of Rs100,000 to Rs200,000 per kanal depending on the neighbourhood. Similarly, a house measuring eight kanals or above with a covered area of more than 12,000 sq ft and built during the same period would be charged Rs200,000 to Rs300,000 tax per kanal (subject to maximum of Rs2.4m to Rs3.6m).

“After receipt of the information provided by the owners about their property, the department calculated/assessed the tax that appeared to be Rs1.440m. And later after serving two notices, the tax was finally paid by Imran Khan on May 22,” said the official.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2023