By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has approved a policy for recovery of the infrastructure tax it imposed on January 1, 2009.

CDGK has been desperately trying to convince citizens to accept the tax, which is to be used to sustain the rapid development taking place in the city but, to date, the tax has been rejected by Karachiites. The key aspect of the CDGK’s new policy is that any real estate dealing, be it sale, purchase or transfer, cannot go ahead until the clearance of all outstanding dues of infrastructure tax.

According to a statement issued on Saturday, the CDGK, living up to its claims of serious action against defaulters, has decided to initiate legal action, under the West Pakistan Revenue Act of 1967. The statement said that it would be better for citizens to pay the utility services charges on time to avoid the burden of arrears, while reiterating that the tax has only been levied for maintenance of roads, flyovers, underpasses, parks and other public properties.

The resentment against the tax is not only confined to the masses, as various political and religious parties, stakeholders, traders and even the opposition of the City Council have repeatedly called for its removal. However, it looks as if the CDGK, having studied all possible pros and cons of the tax, is fully determined to collect the tax.

Talking to Daily Times, CDGK Finance Group of Offices Executive Director Munawar Imam said that the collection of the infrastructure tax is the responsibility of the CDGK Finance Group of Offices, which has reportedly collected around Rs 40 million to date, while the outstanding amounts for the past three months come to around Rs 82 million. He added that, from now on, the bills would be issued on a monthly basis.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_1