PESHAWAR: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has increased property tax as well as tax on the sale and purchase of property in various cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhywa (KP), including the provincial capital Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Mardan, Abbottabad, Mansehra and others.
With the application of new taxes, the rate of tax on a residential property in Peshawar Saddar has been increased by Rs500,000 per marla and by Rs1.2 million per marla for a commercial property.
In Ander Shahr Bazaar, tax on residential property has been increased from Rs1.36 million per marla to Rs2.84, while the tax on commercial property in the area has been increased from Rs5.61 million to Rs10 million per marla.
Similarly, residential property in Budhni area, the outskirts of Peshawar, has been increased from Rs44,000 per marla to Rs97, 000 while the tax on commercial property in the area has been increased to Rs165,000 per marla.
According to sources in the finance department, property tax had been increased 100 per cent in 38 major cities across the country, however, FBR has added more cities to the valuation list, increasing the number of cities to 40.
Commenting on the development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Traders Union (KPTU) President Mujeeb-ur-Rehman rejected the FBR’s new taxes, saying that businesses in KP were already affected by terrorism and the coronavirus pandemic which had constricted their financial ability to afford such expenditures.
He lamented that the move will completely wipe out the property business in the province and leave millions of people jobless.
According to Mujeeb, the FBR has increased the PIP tax from 3 per cent to 4pc, while the new pricing will also require people to pay extra in term of CVT tax.
“The government must reconsider this decision, otherwise we will be forced to launch a protest campaign,” he warned.
