ICCI hails IHC decision to annul hike in property tax

Islamabad : Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the business community on Thursday hailed the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to annual the 200 per cent hike in the property tax by the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) which provided a significant relief.

He said that MCI had unilaterally increased the property tax ranging from 200 to 300 per cent in one go due to which the citizens and the business community of Islamabad were facing great problems. He said that ICCI had challenged unjustified increase in property tax in the Islamabad High Court by filing a petition through Barrister Qasim Abbasi.

He said that the Islamabad High Court has now issued a decision setting aside the notification of MCI for 200-300 per cent hike in property tax and ordered audit of the amount recovered by the CDA under this head, which was laudable as it would provide justice to all stakeholders. He said that the business community of the federal capital was thankful to the IHC for providing them justice by annulling an unjustified move of MCI.

He vowed that the ICCI would continue to fight for protection of the genuine rights of the business community so that they could play more effective role in strengthening the economy.

Fatma Azim, senior vice president and Abdul Rehman Khan, vice president, ICCI also lauded the decision of the IHC on property tax and said that the court has provided necessary justice to all stakeholders by setting aside the notification of MCI regarding unjustified increase in the property tax, which was highly laudable.