Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday sought a detailed reply from the government to a petition challenging the levy of luxury tax on properties on two kanals or more in some areas.
Petitioner Barrister Mian Bilal submitted that the provincial government planned to levy the tax on residential properties in areas specified as Category A under the Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax Act, 1958. The owners of houses on two-to-four kanals must pay Rs500,000, houses on four-to-eights kanals must pay Rs1 million, and houses on more than eight kanals must pay Rs1.5 million. The petitioner said that the tax was unjust since the government was already charging property tax.
He said that the government had started sending notices to house owners and asked the court to direct the department concerned to desist from collecting the tax.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 1st, 2013.