Property Tax on One to Five Marla Homes: An Injustice
Zaheer Ahmed Awan
Chairman, Citizen Action Committee
In Pakistan, one thing governments do with complete focus is taxing the poor. Inflation, unemployment, and unaffordable utility bills already suffocate the people. Now, property tax has returned on one to five marla homes—the homes of the poor.
This relief once given by the previous government is gone. A small measure of comfort for the struggling majority has been snatched away. Instead of targeting the rich, the state is squeezing those who have almost nothing.
The real defaulters are well known: industrialists, landlords, feudal lords, and commercial property owners. They evade taxes openly, often with the help of corrupt tax officials. Yet the axe always falls on the weak—the poor man’s small house, his only shelter.
At the same time, the government is privatizing public schools. For millions of children, this means education will soon be out of reach. Private institutions are already too expensive for ordinary families. Depriving the poor of education is nothing short of a crime against the future.
The property tax on small homes must be withdrawn. If the government is serious, it should collect taxes from the wealthy elite who exploit the system. Burdening the poor again and again will only deepen despair and fuel unrest.
Justice cannot remain asleep in palaces while the poor man’s hut burns under the weight of unfair taxes.
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