Businesses get facility for online property tax payment

Excise dept installs first machine at FCCI, will set up more at public places

FAISALABAD: The Excise and Taxation Department Faisalabad has installed a machine at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) which will provide challans for payment of property tax by the business community in addition to giving other property-related information.

Representing Excise and Taxation Director Fizza Shah, a team of the excise department, along with FCCI Taxation Committee Chairman Chaudhary Talat Mahmood and FCCI Secretary General Abid Masood, on the occasion got first print of property tax from the machine.

Mahmood welcomed installation of the state-of-the-art machine as it would enable the business community to pay property tax online. As a result, the excise department will directly receive property tax without any intermediary like National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and the Accounts Office.

Excise Department Assistant Director Sajjad Hussain announced that the Punjab government had offered 5% concession on payment of property tax before December 31, 2018. He urged the people to cash in on the unique opportunity as from January 1, the property tax would be recovered along with a fine.

He emphasised that the government was facilitating taxpayers by providing online payment facility and in that connection first machine was installed at the FCCI while more such facilities would be set up at other public places.

He was of the view that the new system would streamline the collection of property tax without unnecessary delay. Earlier, majority of the taxpayers had to pay property tax by visiting selected NBP branches. Later, the bank branches transferred the tax received to the Accounts Office from where it was sent to the excise department. Now with the online system, he said, the excise department would receive the tax without any delay. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2018.

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