LAHORE: The Punjab government anticipates Rs3bn of revenue from the tax imposed on luxury houses in the province in the budget 2014-15.
Addressing the post-budget press conference, this was claimed by Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman. He was accompanied by MPA Dr Aysha Pasha, Planning and Development (P and D) Department Chairman Irfan Elahi and Finance Secretary Jahanzeb Khan.
The finance minister claimed that the government tax initiatives would not affect commoners and lower income groups of the province. The minister also said the revenue, collected from luxury houses, would be spent on low-income housing projects in the province.
The government did not include this tax on big houses in the property tax in order to ensure that the tax would be collected from the cantonment areas of the province.
For this, the government has classified it as the luxury tax which is not a service tax while the property tax is considered to be a service tax, thus the cantonments areas owners get exemptions from it.
The government has included it in the finance bill to give it a legal shape, the minister added.
However, the government representatives admitted that such luxury tax was also introduced in the last budget as well but the owners of such houses went to courts and got stay against the government decision. The cases are still in the court.
The minister vowed to collect the luxury tax this year at any cost and pursue its case in courts as well if anybody moves the courts.
About the energy sector initiatives, the minister said a number of steps have been taken with the allocation of Rs31bn to meet the energy needs of the province.
About non-utilisation of allocated funds in the energy sector, Finance Secretary Jahanzeb said the province got $1.6bn foreign funding for the Sahiwal coal-power project which is a good omen. This also proves that trust of foreign investors is reviving in Pakistan, especially in Punjab.
About not tapping the energy generation potential of sugar milling industry, P and D Chairman Irfan Elahi said the federal government had launched a special programme for bagasse-based energy generation while the Punjab government also allocated Rs500m for this sector energy generation.
However, Jahanzeb and Irfan Elahi fail to elaborate how much power would be added from the sugar milling industry and when.
About Green Tractor Scheme, the minister said it was abandoned after consultation with farmer bodies and representatives. The farmer bodies and MPAs from rural areas suggested enhancement of subsidy for fertilizer.
Internews
