MURREE: Authorities have detected a tax fraud of Rs20 million in Murree after it was revealed that a revenue official had massively undervalued a commercial property from Rs220 million to merely Rs6,000 to evade taxes.

Sources in the Murree revenue department told Dawn that the registry muharrar was immediately suspended by the Board of Revenue Member Zaman Wattoo after he visited the newly created district following the information about the fraud. He also referred the case against another revenue official to the authority concerned for disciplinary proceedings.

The commercial property was valued at Rs220 million as per the valuation tables of the Punjab Board of Revenue, but its value was shown at Rs6,000 to steal Rs20m in taxes.

Plaza worth Rs220 million undervalued to Rs6,000 to evade taxes

“After the on-spot inspection of the plaza at Mall Road Murree and after finding the report of huge embezzlement correct, [the] member suspended the registry muharrar and referred the case against the tehsildar (Tahir Nawaz) to the authority concerned,” said a source in the revenue department Murree.

While quoting the member, the official said that the revenue board member was of the view that he would frequently seek information about the revenue department of Rawalpindi and Murree so that no one could evade taxes. He also directed that there should be no complaints from the public about issues, such as the transfer of property and issuance of fard, and such issues should be resolved on a priority basis.

After the information came to light, the revenue board member (taxes) held a meeting of the divisional administration of the revenue department on Saturday and discussed the corruption rampant in the registry branches to eliminate corrupt practices in these offices.

It is relevant to note here last week four patwaris of Murree were also suspended in another alleged case of preparing documents for thousands of kanal of shamalat (communal) land.

Talking about the abovementioned case of tax evasion, an official said that as per the valuation table of the Punjab government, the plaza was valued at Rs220 million. He said the price of the building in the open market would definitely be higher than the government valuation table but despite this, people evaded taxes with the help of revenue officials.

Meanwhile, a notification issued by the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Murree on September 14 stated: “Mr Nasir Mehmood, junior clerk (BS-11) working as registration clerk Murree is hereby suspended from service with immediate effect on account of inefficiency and misconduct.”

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024