Source of income must for purchasing property: FBR

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has refused to grant tax amnesty on the demand for not asking any questions for purchasing an expensive property, flat or housing unit, saying that the source of income would be sought to qualify for eligibility criteria for owning assets.

The National Assembly’s Sub-Committee on Finance and Revenues held its meeting under the Chairmanship of MNA Bilal Azhar Kiani whereby Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (Abad) representative Hassan Bakhshi shared different proposals for Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2024. The panel chairman stated that it was proposed by Abad that non-filers be allowed to purchase property upto Rs25 million as earlier they had demanded to allow purchasing of up to Rs50 million. At one point, the Abad representative threatened to boycott the proceedings. At this, he was asked to speak out with permission from the chair.

The FBR’s Member Tax Policy stated that they could not grant permission for any tax amnesty. Under the proposed tax laws amendment bill, it is proposed to purchase property less than Rs10 million. If someone wants to buy property of Rs13 million he would have to become eligible by showing his declared worth in the last filed returns.

The FBR would introduce an App for voluntary amendment in the filed return so that the buyer becomes eligible after amending his filed return. Allowing purchasing expensive property or other assets could not be permitted without qualifying for eligible criteria. The sub-committee could not finalise its recommendations, so it would meet again on Friday (today) to firm up its proposal for presenting it before the full NA Standing Committee on Finance.