Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has termed the recent jack-up in the Immovable Property Evaluation Revised by The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as grossly excessive and unacceptable. The RCCI president Naeem Rauf in his statement said that the current move of property value for 40 major cities would stall the progress of the economy. The 100 to 600 percent increase in the property valuation, He claimed, would not only suspend business activities but also prove to be a severe dent to the Prime Minister’s vision of promoting housing and construction as an industry to uplift the economy.
In a statement, the president RCCI said, “The FBR’s move of new market value for immovable property in 40 major cities is tantamount to stalling the country’s economy and suspending business activities”, According to the press release, Mr. Rauf said that through an SRO, the value of the property has been increased manifold and with the proposed taxes and valuation, the registry of 500,000 will now go beyond 2.5 million. He further added that due to unbridled inflation, the purchasing power of the people has already reduced significantly. How to set up a factory in the prevailing circumstances? He enquired.
Mr. Rauf continued that the step taken by the FBR is also against the vision of the Prime Minister and the government’s ongoing policy of constructing five million houses under the Naya Pakistan Housing and Construction Project. The prices of cement, bricks, and sanitary materials, he added, have already tripled and with the proposed SRO, the construction industry will decline significantly. He requested the government to take immediate notice of the FBR’s recent move to save the business industry which is already hit the worst by the Corona Pandemic.
Meanwhile, the FBR spokesman, Asad Tahir Jappa, has said that the FBR would review the above-market cases of valuation of immovable property in consultation with the stakeholders. He said, “The recently notified property valuation by the FBR was finalized through a consultative process by the field formations [officials]. However, if there are some instances of [property] valuation beyond the market price, the same will be reviewed in consultation with the stakeholders,”. He further clarified that the review process will be on a case to case basis, “Our field formations will sit with the stakeholders and in genuine cases, the Federal Board of Revenue will review the valuation,” said the FBR official adding, “But it will be on a case-to-case basis”.
