Excise department falls well short of property tax goal

RAWALPINDI: The Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department has missed its Rs12 billion tax collection target for the outgoing fiscal year 2025-26, with property tax recovery lagging sharply even as the Motor Branch achieved its assigned goal.

According to the reported figures, the department remained 41 per cent below its property tax target despite a series of revenue measures. These included ending tax exemptions for five-marla houses, raising tax rates, and extending the property tax net to rural settlements as well as newly developed high-end housing schemes.

Rawalpindi’s Zone-5, described as the city’s most developed area, posted one of the steepest gaps in recovery, with a shortfall of nearly 60 per cent. In the final weeks of June, the department also intensified enforcement against defaulters. Between June 1 and June 27, excise field teams sealed 511 properties across the district and recovered Rs26.6 million, but the broader annual objective remained out of reach.

Departmental sources cited weakening household finances as the main reason for the shortfall. Officials said many families were struggling to cover basic domestic expenses, while tax collection staff frequently encountered protests and verbal abuse during recovery visits, particularly from women. An excise inspector said some residents told officials to arrest or even shoot them because they did not have the money to pay their taxes.