ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) president has demanded the Municipal Corporations Islamabad (MCI) to urgently withdraw the 300 percent hike in the property tax in the federal capital.
Chairing the meeting of the business community today, Yasir Ilyas Khan said that there was no example of making such an unprecedented increase in any tax in one go and urged the authorities to reverse this unjustified decision to save the business.
Khan said that businessmen were not against the payment of taxes; however, any tax rationalization should be done in a gradual manner instead of putting a massive burden on the business community, which was totally unjustified.
The ICCI had obtained a stay order from the Islamabad High Court against this measure and the court had ordered the MCI to charge property tax on the basis of previous rates till the decision of the case, he added.
Though it was unfortunate that instead of complying with the courts’ orders, the MCI has issued new bills of property tax on enhanced rates including interest of previous months, Khan said.
ICCI’s Fatma Azim and Abdul Rehman Khan said that many affairs of the MCI have been transferred back to the CDA and urged that the CDA chairman take back unjustified decisions made by the MCI in order to provide relief to the business community and the citizens of Islamabad.
They urged the MCI to rationalize all taxes including property tax to make them affordable for taxpayers.
