THE practice of issuing property tax notices to non-owner occupants in cantonment areas needs an urgent review. In many families, after the death of the owner, a widow, elderly parents, unmarried or divorced daughters continue to live in the family home. While widows are often exempt from property tax, their dependent children are held liable simply for being occupants.

This is legally and morally questionable. Property tax is a levy on ownership, not occupancy. People who do not hold title, probably have no rental income, and are living in their parental homes. They should not be made to pay property tax. Such demands create severe hardship for the bereaved families already facing financial and emotional strain.

The departments concerned should look into the matter. When dependant family members already paying their due share of sales tax, fuel tax and income tax also have to pay tax for a property their deceased parents had already paid for, it does not feel like civic duty; it feels like getting billed for grief. Indeed, revenue collection is important, but it should not come at the cost of penalising families for living together in their own homes.

Basma F. Malik
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2026