The Punjab government has brought home-based tuition centers, academies and coaching centers operating in residential areas under the provincial property tax regime.
The move follows an amendment to the Punjab Private Educational Institutions Act 2026, which expands the definition of private educational institutions to include tuition centers run from homes, small coaching centers and neighborhood academies.
Under the amended law, buildings and properties used for these educational activities will be subject to property tax. Electricity and water connections for such establishments will also be treated as commercial.
Small private schools operating in residential areas will also come under the tax regime, regardless of whether they are registered or unregistered.
The changes have been criticized by the All-Pakistan Private Schools Colleges Association, which has called on the Punjab government to withdraw the amendment.
The association said the measures could particularly affect women and girls who provide tuition to small numbers of children from their homes as a way of supplementing household incomes.
It said treating such small-scale tuition centers as commercial establishments would impose additional property and utility-related costs and could further burden low-income families.
The association urged the provincial government to withdraw the amendment and reconsider the imposition of commercial taxes and property-related charges on home-based tuition centers.
