ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said that it has not received any complaint so far from Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) regarding anomalies in valuation of immovable properties this year.
A meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance chaired by Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh was presented a brief on Saturday on the agenda to consider the suggestions/proposals of real estate sector for further resolving anomalies pointed out by Pakistan Real Estate Investment Forum (PREIF), Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) and other stakeholders in the FBR valuation table.
The FBR stated that rates for immovable properties were notified in August 2016 and before notifying the rates, the fair market value of all the areas was determined. Thereafter, the FBR rates were fixed after consultation with the stakeholders. The overall average of FBR rates were fixed at a certain percentage of the fair market value with the intention to take the FBR rates equal to the fair market value gradually over a reasonable period of time.
Subsequently various representations/complaints were received regarding anomalies in valuation tables of FBR and it was reported that FBR rates in some areas are higher than the approximate overall average percentage of the fair market value and in some areas even higher than 100 percent of the fair market value. In this regard, the FBR also held various meetings with the stakeholders to remove the anomalies. The anomalies pointed out were of two main categories; (i) the FBR rate in some areas is fixed much higher than the overall average percentage of the fair market value and in some cases even higher than the fair market value; (ii) the FBR rate as percentage of fair market value is higher when compared with a similar comparable location.
Accordingly, the FBR rates have been revised to remove the anomalies. The areas where anomalies were removed included the areas where Pakistan Real Estate Investment Forum also pointed out anomalies, such as DHA City Karachi, SITE Industrial Area and Anmol Cooperative Housing Society. The FBR has not yet received any complaint on anomalies in valuation of immovable properties by the ABAD this year.
