NWFP government asked to exempt 5-marla houses from tax

The Nifaz-i-Shariah Council (NSC) of the MMA has asked the NWFP provincial government to exempt five and less than five marla houses from property tax, while retain taxes on arms and private cars.
The proposals were made in a meeting of the provincial Nifaz-i-Shariah Council meeting, which was held here at the office of the council on Sunday night.
Briefing journalists about the proceedings of the meeting, the spokesman of the council, Mufti Kifayatullah said that after passage of unanimous resolutions by the NWFP assembly last year, seeking exemption from taxes on houses, vehicles and arms, the provincial government had sought consent of the council whether these taxes were Islamic or un-Islamic.
He said that the council held two meetings to discuss the matter and after a detailed deliberation, it reached to certain conclusions.
The NSC meeting concluded that taxes were included in the revenue and resources of the provincial government that is why they could not be termed as illegal or un-Islamic, he informed.
Regarding tax on the five marla house, Mufti said as the matter relates to poor segment of the society and most of the dwellers of the frontier province were poor, therefore the NSC has asked the provincial government to exempt houses built on five or less than five marla from property tax.
"The decision could be implemented on only one house in which the owner is living himself. More than one house of an owner would not be exempted from property tax. Similarly, houses rented out by its owner would also not be exempted," Kifayat explained.
The council also discussed the matter of tax on arms and reached to the conclusion that tax on arms was an administrative matter rather than a financial one and if arms were exempted from tax, law and order situation in the country would deteriorate. In order to avoid turmoil in the society, the council proposed the provincial government to retain tax on arms, he further informed.
About tax on private car, the NSC discussed that exemption of private cars from tax would crumple the economic system of the province.