ISLAMABAD: The tax contribution by Pakistan’s booming realty sector, where most of the untaxed money is parked, stood at only Rs23 billion or less than 0.1% of the size of national economy in the previous fiscal year.To tackle such challenges posed by a weak tax administration and a culture of tax evasion, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government may appoint the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) chairman from the private sector.The realty sector, where huge black money is parked, paid slightly over Rs23 billion in the last fiscal year 2017-18. This included tax collection under an amnesty scheme for ...

KARACHI: Pakistan's real estate sector seems to be experiencing a slowdown in activity as stakeholders are now getting used to new regulations and the tax regime.The rough patch comes after the government introduced various changes in a bid to increase its revenue and control the flow of illicit money into the sector, cornering speculators and non-filers of income tax returns.Key reforms for Pakistan’s real estate sector hit a snagHowever, in a survey conducted by The Express Tribune, several real estate agents say there has been a major slowdown in business for several months, and it started even before ...

KARACHI: The real estate sector had been struggling due to the government's condition that had prohibited non-filers of income tax returns from buying property valued above Rs5 million, However, now, with the ban withdrawn, the sector is expected to flourish again and attract foreign exchange from expatriates.On Tuesday, the government removed the ban, announced by former finance minister Miftah Ismail in April, earlier this year, which was applicable from July 1, 2018. Reacting to the decision, Ismail expressed his displeasure on Twitter and accused the incumbent government of falling to the pressure of auto companies and land developers.Booming ...

LAHORE: Pakistan's realty market has got matured substantially over the past decade as it has been able to absorb economic jolts, particularly in the past one and a half year and since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government came to power in August this year.The current government, according to analysts, has not presented any firm economic policy so far, nor did it manage to secure any bailout package from the International Monetary Fund to avert a balance of payments crisis. Despite these, the realty sector, unlike other segments of the economy, is at a standstill and has not experienced ...

The current government has taken a clear stance against land grabbing and encroachments but they also simultaneously need to focus on tax reforms for the real estate market to wrestle with the FBR zeros on the real estate transactions. The revenue contribution from property tax should be 1% of the GDP in developing countries. But in reality, real estate tax in developing countries is 0.1% of the GDP and rarely 0.5%. While in the United States, Canada and Australia property tax collected is close to 2% of the GDP on average.The real estate sector is the second-largest sector ...