Realty market: FBR’s property valuations ‘unrealistic’

Multan Chamber points to legal flaws in valuation system

MULTAN: The business community and trade lobbies have rejected the property valuation tables prepared by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the Multan district, saying the valuations are very high and unrealistic for industrial as well as other pieces of land in the city and are not acceptable.

Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Fareed Mughis Sheikh, while expressing concern, pointed out that the valuation tables were prepared without consultation with the stakeholders for the sake of forcibly collecting maximum tax.

He also rejected the FBR’s proposal for collecting 5% advance tax from the developers and builders.

He noted that there were many legal flaws in the valuation system which needed to be removed in consultation with the Multan Chamber and other stakeholders as there could not be two regulators.

He emphasised that amendments to the valuation tables were necessary to make them practical and pragmatic.

Sheikh suggested that suitable changes should be made to the law to remove the anomalies at the earliest as almost all property transactions were at a standstill for the time being.

He urged Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to take immediate notice of the matter and resolve it immediately so that real estate transactions and dealings could be resumed.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2016.

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