LAHORE: Amidst the nation’s ongoing concerns over the tax hikes introduced in the annual budget earlier this year, a Punjab Cabinet standing committee has now approved the implementation of a new garbage tax.
The Standing Committee for Finance and Development sanctioned the tax during a recent meeting. The provincial government will introduce a new indirect tax by outsourcing the sanitation system across the province.
In rural areas, the tax will be Rs200 per month for a 5-marla house, Rs400 for a 10-marla to 1 kanal house, Rs300 for small businesses and village shops, Rs700 for medium businesses, and Rs1,000 for large businesses.
In urban areas, the tax will be Rs300 per month for a 5-marla house, Rs500 to Rs2,000 for a 10-marla to 1 kanal house, and Rs5,000 for houses larger than 1 kanal. Small businesses in cities will be taxed Rs500, medium businesses Rs1,000, and large businesses Rs3,000 per month.
Earlier, local governments in some urban centers began charging the citizens for sanitation and water supply services in the last few decades. And now a paid mechanism for garbage collection is also being introduced.