ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has decided to move Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the announcement of up to 300pc increase in taxes on commercial and residential properties by the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), saying that “the step is against the set procedures and is totally unjustified”.
In a statement issued on Thursday, ICCI President Ahmed Hassan Moughal said that the MCI has announced an increase of up to 300pc in taxes on commercial and residential properties in the federal capital while the Capital Development Authority has been sending its tax notices, which was quite strange.
He said when CDA was contacted about the increase in property tax, it informed that the mayor of Islamabad had made the said increase. “Owing to the power tussle between CDA and MCI, citizens of Islamabad were badly suffering,” he maintained.
Moughal said the business community was cooperating with the government on taxation matters, but some government organizations “were only harassing the businessmen in the garb of taxation measures”.
He said a meeting of leading traders of Islamabad would soon be called on the issue of property tax so that a consensus could be built and future course of action against this matter could be chalked out.
He urged Prime Minister Imran Khan and CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed to issue orders for the immediate withdrawal of increase in property tax, otherwise business community “would be left with no other option but to launch a strong protest against the said order”.
