KARACHI: The Sindh government will shortly sign a Rs72 million contract with a Punjab government’s subsidiary company for the province-wide survey of property units to bring untaxed units into the net.

The survey to begin from Sukkur this month involves satellite imageries of commercial and housing units after locating population blocks by using the GIS system. The mapping of the city through the GIS system will follow a door-to-door survey of the property units.

The project also involves computerisation of the property tax system in Sindh ensuring correct data of property units, issuance of tax challans through computers and online payment of tax.

The Punjab government’s subsidiary firm, The Urban Unit, which has successfully surveyed property units in major districts of Punjab, has won the World Bank’s tender being the lowest bidder.

Shoaib Siddiqui, director general of the excise and taxation department, said that the survey in Sukkur would serve as a model of enumeration property units in other districts of the province.

He estimated that the survey would discover a large number of untaxed and under-taxed property units. It is expected to boost the government revenue from property tax from existing Rs2 billion to Rs5bn per annum.

He said that the inspectors of excise and taxation would accompany the surveyor during door-door visits to help workers of the Urban Unit identify different blocks and wards of houses.

Mr Siddiqui said that he had visited Lahore to see the work of the surveyor in registering property units and modernisation of the tax system and was impressed with their performance.

Abdul Razzaq, director of the Urban Unit, said that according to the data provided by the Sindh government there are 33,000 property units in Sukkur but his estimates are for over 60,000 units in the city.

He said that the company had fully computerised the property tax system in six major cities of Punjab where the tax revenue has increased substantially. The same modern electronic tax system will be introduced in Sindh.

Mr Razzaq said that the company was hopeful of completing the survey of property units in Sindh in one year against the 18-month schedule stipulated in the contract.

After completing enumeration of property units the survey will be launched in all cities simultaneously. It would reach its climax in Karachi where the number of units is extraordinary very high.

The contract is presently being vetted by the Sindh Law Department and arrangements are being discussed to determine mode of payment by the World Bank which is financing the project.

The survey of property units is a multipurpose exercise which would also collect data of small businesses, shops, petrol pumps and marriage halls which are liable to pay professional tax thus helping the Sindh government to boost its revenue on another account.

Published in Dawn February 6th, 2017