The Punjab government has decided to collect property and entertainment taxes from cantonments from the next fiscal year after a lapse of 33 years and the move will add 15 to 20 percent revenue to the previous target of Rs16 billion for 2011-12.
The decision is being taken after the promulgation of the Constitutional (Eighteenth Amendment) Act of 2010, being the reason of deletion of Concurrent Legislative List under Article 101 (3) and deletion of the Seventh Schedule under Article 102 (provincial levies) that was introduced by General Ziaul Haq. Punjab Excise and Taxation (E&T) department sources said that the Ministry of Defence had been approached to repeal the Presidential Order No13 of 1979 - the Cantonment (Urban Immovable Property Tax and Entertainment Duty) Order of 1979. This, they said, would enable the Excise and Taxation Department to administer both provincial levies - Urban Immovable Property Tax and Entertainment Duty in accordance with the existing laws.