{"id":105339,"date":"2026-04-21T13:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/?p=105339"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:07:15","slug":"ajk-tourism-stakeholders-seek-tax-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/ajk-tourism-stakeholders-seek-tax-relief.html","title":{"rendered":"AJK tourism stakeholders demand equal tax relief as KP, GB"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Muzaffarabad: Tourism stakeholders in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have urged the government to grant the region tax relief similar to that offered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, warning that the local hospitality industry is at risk of collapse under the current tax regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The demand was made by the All AJK Hotels, Guest Houses, Restaurants, and Marriage Halls Action Committee during a press conference held on Monday. Committee representatives called for a special relief package and proposed that AJK be declared a tax-free zone for the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/ajk-engages-kashmiri-expats-to-boost-economy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AJK engages overseas Kashmiris to drive economic growth<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They warned that if businesses are not exempted from the Point of Sale (POS) system and General Sales Tax (GST), operators may be forced to shut down operations. \u201cIf these measures are not withdrawn, we will have no option but to hand over our keys to the government in protest,\u201d the committee members said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the representatives, the hospitality sector is the only fully functional industry in the region and supports the livelihoods of more than 48,000 families. They argued that imposing additional tax measures would further strain businesses already operating under challenging conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The committee also questioned the legal basis of the tax measures, stating that under the 1974 Act, the AJK government does not have the authority to enforce GST or mandatory POS installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Highlighting regional disparities, the stakeholders noted that tourism-friendly policies, including tax exemptions, have been extended to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan to promote international tourism, while AJK continues to face what they described as a heavy tax burden that discourages visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They further pointed out that several tourist destinations in AJK are located near the Line of Control, where periodic cross-border tensions make it difficult for business owners to access financing from banks and other financial institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/ajk-launches-tax-asaan-app.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tax Asaan App to strengthen revenue collection in AJK<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Calling for a shift in policy priorities, the committee urged authorities to promote tourism by easing taxation and opening scenic areas to international visitors. They maintained that if the government insists on implementing these taxes, it should assume operational responsibility for the affected businesses and support the thousands of families dependent on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Muzaffarabad: Tourism stakeholders in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have urged the government to grant the region tax relief similar to that offered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, warning that the local hospitality industry is at risk of collapse under the current tax regime. The demand was made by the All AJK Hotels, Guest Houses, Restaurants, and Marriage Halls Action Committee during a press conference held on Monday. Committee representatives called for a special relief package and proposed that AJK be declared a tax-free zone for the next five years. Read: AJK engages overseas Kashmiris to drive economic growth They warned that if businesses are not exempted from the Point of Sale (POS) system and General Sales Tax (GST), operators may be forced to shut down operations. \u201cIf these measures are not withdrawn, we will have no option but to hand over our keys to the government in protest,\u201d the committee members said. According to the representatives, the hospitality sector is the only fully functional industry in the region and supports the livelihoods of more than 48,000 families. They argued that imposing additional tax measures would further strain businesses already operating under challenging conditions. The committee also questioned the legal&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":105340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15016],"tags":[72528,72527,72156,25834,72522,71324,13173,72519,72518,68437,72520,1375,72523,72521,72525,61118,72517,72526,1781,72524],"persona":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-105339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-developments","8":"tag-abrar-ahmed-butt","9":"tag-ajk-hotels","10":"tag-asim-munir","11":"tag-azad-jammu-and-kashmir","12":"tag-economic-challenges-ajk","13":"tag-faisal-mumtaz-rathore","14":"tag-gilgit-baltistan","15":"tag-gst-pakistan","16":"tag-hospitality-sector-crisis","17":"tag-hotel-industry-pakistan","18":"tag-jk-tourism","19":"tag-khyber-pakhtunkhwa","20":"tag-neelum-raja-iftikhar","21":"tag-pos-system-pakistan","22":"tag-raja-ilyas","23":"tag-shehbaz-sharif","24":"tag-tax-relief-demand","25":"tag-tax-free-zone-demand","26":"tag-tourism-industry-pakistan","27":"tag-tourism-policy-pakistan","28":"cat-15016-id"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AJK tourism stakeholders seek tax relief - Zameen News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sseveral tourist destinations in AJK are located near the Line of Control, where periodic cross-border tensions make it difficult...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/ajk-tourism-stakeholders-seek-tax-relief.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AJK tourism stakeholders seek tax relief - Zameen News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sseveral tourist destinations in AJK are located near the Line of Control, where periodic cross-border tensions make it difficult...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/ajk-tourism-stakeholders-seek-tax-relief.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pakistan Real Estate News &amp; 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