Karachi: Several residents of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton have approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) challenging the hike in property tax by Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC).
The petitioners including Shabnam Jabbar stated that tax challans for 2022-23 issued by CBC amounted to double taxation as they had already paid the due tax.
They argued that after the 18th amendment, CBC could not collect property tax as the issue has been sub judice since 2015. The amendment authorizes only the provincial government to levy property tax.
In their petitions, the residents urged the court to restrain CBC from collecting the “unconstitutional tax” and withdraw current challans.
On Tuesday, a two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Junaid Ghaffar put all respondents including the Defence Ministry, DHA, and CBC on notice seeking comments by September 8.
Last week, the bench issued similar notices on identical petitions filed by over 55 DHA and Clifton residents. The residents contend the tax hike is illegal, arbitrary, and exorbitant.
The petitioners want the court to stop authorities from collecting the increased tax and challans issued for 2022-23. They state CBC cannot demand or collect property tax after the 18th Amendment.
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