Has Punjab Imposed Taxes on Graves?

Online users are circulating an old Samaa TV clip that reported the Punjab government has imposed taxes on adult and child graves in its recent budget.

On July 4, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted a two-minute video with the caption: “Graves will now be taxed. Rs. 1,500 for adult graves and Rs. 1,000 for children’s graves.”

لو جو قبرستان پر بھی ٹیکس ، اب ہر قبر پر بھی ٹیکس لگے گا ۔
🙄 pic.twitter.com/OF2cnqOWHZ

— Abid Hussain (@abid_h7) July 5, 2024

However, government officials have clarified that no taxes have been imposed on graves in Punjab, nor is there any proposal for such taxes.

Asia Gul, Special Secretary of Local Government and Community Development in Lahore, dismissed the online claims as “fake.”

“The local government has not initiated any such proposal nor has the government approved any such suggestion,” she stated.

Aslam Nadeem, Director of Administration and Finance at the Punjab Shehr-e-Khamoshan Authority, also confirmed that he has not seen any proposal for taxing graves and is unaware of such measures being considered in the province.

It is pertinent to mention that similar news had gone viral in 2019 as well. A local digital media platform, UrduPoint.com, also published a video on its Dailymotion channel regarding a proposal to tax graves in the province.

Dr. Shehbaz Gill, the spokesperson for the Chief Minister of Punjab at that time, also confirmed that there were no discussions or proposals regarding taxes on graves.

ایک بہت ہی فضول قسم کی افواہ پھیلائی گئی کہ قبرستان ہو ٹیکس لگ رہا ہے۔ یہ غلط خبر ہے

— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) July 16, 2019