Punjab · Excise & Taxation · Finance Act 2011
Punjab Farm House Tax Calculator
Rs 10, 15 or 20 for every square foot of covered area, depending on the band — and the band rate applies to the whole area, so crossing a boundary costs far more than one square foot should.
The schedule
Farm house tax bands
| Covered area | Rate per sq ft | Tax at the band floor | Tax at the band ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 to 7,000 sq ft | Rs 10 | Rs 50,000 | Rs 70,000 |
| 7,001 to 10,000 sq ft | Rs 15 | Rs 105,015 | Rs 150,000 |
| More than 10,000 sq ft | Rs 20 | Rs 200,020 | No ceiling |
The rate for the band the covered area falls in applies to the WHOLE covered area, not just the part above the band floor. The schedule reads 'per square foot of the covered area per annum', with no slicing. The published bands run 5,000-7,000 and 7,001-10,000, which leaves the values between 7,000 and 7,001 unaddressed. A covered area of exactly 7,000 sq ft falls in the first band; anything above it is treated as the second, because that is the only reading that leaves no gap.
Reading the result
The band rate applies to every square foot
This is a slab that behaves like a cliff rather than a staircase. Once the covered area reaches a band, that band's rate is charged on the whole area — not just on the part above the threshold.
So a few square feet over a boundary re-prices the entire building. Anyone planning an extension near a band edge should work out both figures before starting, because the marginal cost of that last small addition is not small.
Covered area, not land
The charge follows what is built, not what is owned. A large holding with a modest house sits lower than a small plot with a substantial one. Measure the covered area across all floors as the department defines it, rather than estimating from the plot size.
It sits alongside ordinary property tax
This is a separate levy, not a substitute. A farm house within a rating area can face both, and receiving one demand does not mean the other has been absorbed into it.
Where this stops
Whether a building is a farm house for this purpose is a definitional question the Excise and Taxation Department decides, and it turns on location and character rather than on what the owner calls it. The demand notice governs.
FAQs
Punjab Farm House Tax FAQs
What counts as a farm house for this tax?
The Punjab Finance Act 2011 charges it on a farm house lying outside the existing property-tax rating areas whose total area — including the land under farming — is four kanals or more, whose covered area is at least 5,000 square feet, and which was constructed after 1980. All four have to hold. Miss any one and the tax does not apply.
Is the rate charged only on the part above the band floor?
No, and this is where the bill surprises people. The rate for the band your covered area falls in applies to the whole covered area. At 7,000 square feet the tax is Rs 10 on every foot, or Rs 70,000. At 7,001 it becomes Rs 15 on every foot, or Rs 105,015 — one extra square foot costs about Rs 35,000.
What if my farm house is inside a rating area?
Then it is not charged under this head. Property inside a rating area is assessed to urban immovable property tax instead, which is a different calculation entirely.
Is this in addition to property tax?
It replaces it rather than stacking on it, because the two apply to different places — farm house tax is for property outside the rating areas, property tax for property inside them.
Does the land area matter to the amount?
Only as a qualifying test. You need four kanals or more in total, including the farmed land, for the tax to apply at all; after that the amount is driven entirely by the covered area of the buildings.
Which area do I measure — total or covered?
Covered area: the built floor area. The total holding decides whether you qualify, the covered area decides what you pay.
Is the tax annual?
Yes. The schedule reads "per square foot of the covered area per annum", so the figure recurs each year while the property qualifies.
Is this the amount I will be billed?
It is what the published schedule produces from the covered area you entered. The demand your Excise and Taxation Officer raises governs, and it turns on the officially recorded covered area, which may not match your own measurement.
Related tools
Inside a rating area instead?
Punjab's luxury house tax hit large residential houses in the rating areas and cantonments under the Finance Act 2014.
Open the Punjab Luxury House Tax Calculator