BIASES IN TAX ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES IN KARACHI

This paper is a study of the residential property tax in Karachi. It studies differences between assessment values and market values of properties and investigates whether these differences in the two are random or systematic. Results indicate that there are significant biases in favor of higher quality. owner-occupied and independent houses which also make the tax regressive. In light of the findings suggestions are made for improvement in the present assessment formula.