Govt relaxes restrictions on major purchases by individuals with insufficient declared assets

The federal government has relaxed its proposed restrictions on major purchases by individuals with insufficient declared assets ahead of the budget approval. 

According to a news report, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar, has endorsed these new measures.

Initially, the government had planned to ban economic transactions, including the purchase of homes, cars, plots, securities investments, and maintaining a bank account for those whose declared assets did not support such purchases.

However, the new criteria set limits on these transactions. Individuals will no longer face restrictions on purchasing a car if its value is up to Rs7 million. 

The ineligibility condition will now only apply to purchases of commercial plots over Rs100 million and residential properties over Rs50 million.

Additionally, individuals will be restricted from making investments in the stock market if their cumulative investment exceeds Rs50 million in a year. 

The new criteria will also apply if the balance in an individual’s bank accounts exceeds Rs100 million annually.

These limits are based on assumptions that the top 5% of Pakistan’s wealthiest individuals evade taxes, while the remaining 95% lack the financial means to make major investments. 

Additionally, the Federal Board of Revenue has proposed the Rs36 billion measures in lieu of a reduction in the proposed sales tax rate on the import of solar panels from 18% to 10% and funding an increase in salaries of the government employees to 10%.