The revenue directorate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is set to launch a campaign for recovery of outstanding property tax, water and other charges from the defaulters.
The sources in the CDA told ‘The News’ that individual notices to the defaulters are being sent for clearing the outstanding taxes against their property. However, they conceded, that such notices have hardly made any difference and very few defaulters have cleared the outstanding dues against them.
“The number of such defaulters runs into thousands, but as a starter we are going public by putting a public notice in the newspapers, specifically mentioning the names and the properties of a few against which these defaulters owe heavy amounts in property tax, water and allied charges,” spokesman for the CDA told ‘The News’. He added that property owners and residents of Islamabad owe around Rs200 million in the shape of property tax, water and allied charges to the CDA.
In the first phase only major and ‘chronic’ defaulters’ names have been mentioned in the public notice with their properties and the outstanding amount against them. “This amount runs into around Rs50 million,” he added.
He said that these taxes have to be paid and there is no power that can waive off these taxes or the surcharge accounted on the defaulted amount. “What the public has to be aware of the fact is that these taxes and the surcharge accounted on the defaulted amount at the rate of 1.50 per month can not be waived or reduced in any case. Whenever such a defaulter of these taxes and charges will try to sell/transfer the property, even in the case of death if the property has to be transferred to the legal heirs, that can be done only after clearing all these dues against the property in question,” he said.
Regarding initiating legal action for the recovery of these taxes from the defaulters, he said that CDA’s magistrate has been invested with the powers to act as additional collector (revenue) under the Land Revenue Act.
“The legal action initiated against any defaulter may lead to imposition of a fine to be paid in addition to the outstanding dues to imprisonment, ‘sealing of property’ and even disposal of the property in question through open auction for the recovery of these taxes that the owner of the property owes to the CDA,” he said.
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