FBR Grants ‘Filer’ Status to Non-Filing Overseas Pakistanis to Buy Property

The non-filers or unregistered overseas Pakistanis have been given the status of “filer” for the deduction of withholding tax on buying and selling of immovable properties in Pakistan. Therefore, overseas Pakistanis, who are not filing their income tax returns, would pay tax rates of the “filers’ category” on property transactions.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has clarified that the rate of advance income tax on the purchase and sale of immovable properties by overseas Pakistanis would be the “filer rate” even if they are “non-filers”.

According to the frequently asked questions (FAQs) issued by the FBR, for Overseas Pakistanis the rate of advance income tax on the purchase and sale of immovable properties under sections 236C and 236K shall be “filer rate” even if they are “non-filer” subject to the following conditions:

They are holding POC or NICOP; (ii); They are non-resident in Pakistan, meaning their stay in a financial year in Pakistan is less than 183 days.

The advance income tax under sections 236C and 236K at the time of transfer of immovable properties differ depending on the fair market value of the immovable properties, as well as the status of a person who has filed his income tax return and a person who filed late or did not file at all.

The FBR explained that the Overseas Pakistanis who are holding POC or NICOP can avail the “filer rate” under sections 236C and 236K by following this procedure:

• The concerned Authority, Registrar, or housing society that is responsible for registering, transferring, or recording the immovable property shall click on the “Overseas Pakistanis” link on FBR’s web portal to create a PSID (payment slip identity)
• The system shall redirect the person to a form to declare his POC or NICOP No, and the system will fetch automatically his details such as name and address; upload a scanned copy of his POC or NICOP; and his status as “resident” or “non-resident” and can upload documents in support thereof.
• The system shall digitally make the PSID available in the IRIS digital inbox of the concerned Commissioner for approval.
• The Commissioner shall verify the documents attached, approve after verification, and inform the person who created PSID by email and SMS;

Also, the system shall allow the person to make payment of advance income tax at the “filer rate” despite being a “non-filer”, FBR added.