Govt Eases Buying Property and Cars for Non-Filers

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday announced Rs. 36 billion in new taxes.

Originally, the government proposed to ban anyone from buying homes, cars, or making large financial transactions if their declared income didn’t support it. That condition has now been limited to high-end purchases only.

The rule will apply only to cars above 1,600cc, residential properties larger than one kanal in major cities and two kanals in others, cash deposits exceeding Rs. 100 million per year, and stock investments over Rs. 50 million per year.

This rollback renders the FBR’s enforcement drive nearly ineffective.

The finance minister said these changes were made on the prime minister’s instructions and acknowledged the FBR’s limited capacity to enforce the original plan.

Aurangzeb also introduced three tax measures to raise Rs. 36 billion by increasing tax on the debt portion of mutual funds for companies from 25 percent to 29 percent, raising tax on corporate income from government securities from 15 percent to 20 percent, and imposing a Rs. 10 Federal Excise Duty per day-old chick to collect Rs. 15 billion annually.

Further key announcements:

• No withholding tax on residential property sales held for over 15 years.

• Post-retirement benefits such as commutation and gratuity remain tax-exempt.

• Annual pensions above Rs. 10 million will be taxed at 5 percent, but pensioners over 75 are fully exempt.

• Income tax for those earning Rs. 600,000–1.2 million annually has been cut from 2.5 percent to 1 percent.

• A 20-year low-income housing loan scheme is being launched.

On tax fraud enforcement, Aurangzeb said:

• Arrests for fraud under Rs. 50 million require a court warrant.

• Arrests will be allowed only after three notices, flight risk, or record tampering.

• Arrests must be approved by a three-member FBR committee and produced before a special judge within 24 hours.

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