Budget 2024-25: Pakistan plans to 'get more tax from real estate sector'

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has planned to get more tax from the real estate sector in budget 2024-25, scheduled to be presented today, ARY News reported, citing sources.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led federal government will present its first growth-oriented budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, with an estimated outlay of over Rs18 trillion.

According to proposals, Pakistan has planned to get tax from real estate sector in three slabs.

Filer buying property worth Rs50 mln will have to pay 3 pc tax, as per sources, while non-filer will pay 6 pc tax, the sources said.

Property worth Rs50 to 100 mln will be slapped 4 pc tax for filers and 12pc for non-filers.

In third slab, non-filer buying or selling property wroth over Rs100 mln will be slapped with 5pc tax, while the non-filer will pay 15pc tax.

Real estate’s recommendations

Pakistan’s real estate experts have forwarded their budget 2024-25 recommendations to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.

According to the real estate expert, Ahsan Malik, the sector has suffered huge losses for the past two years. He warned that imposing higher taxes on real estate will drive more investment out of Pakistan.

Malik suggested the Pakistan government to reduce DC rates by 33% to reflect the actual market value of the property in the budget 2024-25.

He calls for the elimination of the 3% income tax under Section 236C on land sales.

Malik proposed that the income tax on the sale of land and flats under Section 236C should be reduced to 1% in the upcoming fiscal year budget.

The real estate expert further recommended reducing the tax for non-filers under Section 236-C from 10.5% to 6%.

Special tax concessions should be granted to widows who are non-filers when purchasing property.