ISLAMABAD: Ch. Abdul Majeed, General Manager, Multi-Professional Cooperative Housing Society along with a delegation of Islamabad Real Estate Agents Association visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and stressed that transparent utilization of tax money was key to promote tax culture in the country. He said businessmen were fully cognizant of the importance of tax payment, but non-transparent use of tax money was major hurdle in promoting tax culture.
The representative of Islamabad Real Estate Agents said that cumulative impact of various taxes including advance withholding tax, capital value tax, and registration fee was around 15% on real estate sector due to which this business activities in this sector have almost come to a halt. They emphasized that to save the real estate business from complete destruction, government should immediately withdraw heavy taxes on it in the forthcoming budget.
Speaking at the occasion, Khalid Iqbal Malik, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that real estate sector was playing key role in the economic development of the country as it was creating plenty of jobs, paying significant tax to national exchequer and was supporting more than 40 industries. However, imposition of heavy taxes on real estate has badly damaged this important sector of the economy. He urged that government should revise heavy taxes on real estate in the coming budget to revive its growth.
He said government should also revisit its zero-tax regime for export-oriented industries to facilitate better growth of exports. He said billions of refunds of exporters were stuck up with the government due to which they were facing liquidity problems. He stressed that government should ensure timely clearance of refunds that would help in improving exports. He assured that ICCI would play role for resolving the key issues of real estate sector for its better growth. Khalid Malik, Senior Vice President, Tahir Ayub Vice President ICCI, Zafar Bakhtawari, Muhammad Saeed Khan and others also spoke at the occasion.
