RCB, taxation dept lock horns over tax collection

Rawalpindi Cantt Board threatens to file contempt petition against Punjab Excise, Taxation Dept

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department have locked horns after the latter decided to collect professional tax from business centres in Cantonment areas.

The RCB is already collecting property and professional taxes from its jurisdiction. The provincial excise and taxation department’s decision has created a controversy between the two institutions.

Sources said that the Punjab ombudsman has justified the collection of professional tax by the excise department from the Cantonment areas. Excise and Taxation Officer Gul Sher Khan said that under Article 163 of the Constitution, every citizen within the provincial limits was bound to pay all applicable taxes and the Peshawar High Court Abbottabad bench has declared that the provincial tax was also applicable to Cantonment areas.

On the other hand, RCB Executive Officer Imran Gulzar said that no one but the Cantonment board was mandated to collect taxes from its jurisdiction.

He said that the Cantonment board has its own tax recovery system and the taxes could not be collected simultaneously by two tax authorities.

The RCB chief executive officer while quoting the Supreme Court's decision in this regard threatened to file a competent court petition if the provincial excise and taxation department attempted to collect taxes from the Cantonment jurisdiction.

“If a violation is committed, the Cantonment board's legal adviser will file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court,” he said.

The two institutions have their own conflicting positions but currently, only RCB is collecting the professional tax in the Cantonment areas.

On the other hand, traders also strongly condemned the excise and taxation department’s move.

RCB Anjuman-e-Tajran General Secretary Zafar Qadri said that only the Cantonment board can collect professional tax according to bylaws and no other department has the authority to collect taxes. “If any attempt is made by any department to collect the tax, the business community will react strongly,” he said.

“We pay property tax, professional tax, conservancy charges, building plan fee, water charges and property transfer tax to the RCB but unfortunately, roads in the RCB areas are in a dilapidated condition, the sewerage system is broken down, water is not available and street lights are not working,” he said adding that the RCB has once again started the property tax assessment survey. “After all, how much tax should we pay although the RCB is not providing facilities?”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2022.