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prohibited non-filers of income tax returns from buying property valued above Rs5 million, However, now, with the ban withdrawn, the sector is expected to flourish again and attract foreign exchange from expatriates.On Tuesday, the government removed the ban, announced by former finance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 ...

WASHINGTON DC: US officials accused Facebook of discrimination Thursday for using its targeted advertising to limit who sees postings for certain kinds of housing.Administrative charges filed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development said Facebook "unlawfully discriminates based on race, colour, national origin, religion, familial status, sex and disability" by restricting who can view housing-related ads."Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live," said HUD Secretary Ben Carson."Using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face."The move comes ...

KARACHI: The government has lifted the moratorium on the purchase of property worth over Rs5 million by non-filers of tax returns but has closed the window of legalising black money through investment in real estate in order to welcome only genuine buyers.“The previous government had imposed a restriction on the registration or transfer of property exceeding Rs5 million to a non-filer. It has been observed that the restriction has not achieved the desired goal of increasing the number of tax return filers, rather such restriction has been legally challenged in courts on the point of jurisdiction,” said Minister ...