PROPERTY tax is levied and collected under the Sindh Urban Immovable Property Tax Act, 1958 and Pakistan Finance Act 2017. According to these Acts, a uniform rate of tax is levied on all categories of properties at the rate of 25 per cent of annual rental value (ARV).

The taxes, such as capital gain tax (CGT), capital value tax (CVT), stamp duty, withholding tax (WHT) or advance tax, have to be paid by the purchaser and seller of the property, whether it is residential, industrial or commercial.

The purchaser and seller of the property would also pay registration fees and commission to the estate agent. This looks great as the national exchequer gets a huge amount of taxation from the seller and purchaser. However, in this whole process one clever person — the real estate agent — clearly goes unnoticed and gets away with all the money, for he never pays a single penny to the government, evading millions of rupees of taxes, while getting millions in commissions from both the parties.

The authorities concerned should come up with due legislation in this regard and bring the real estate agent in the tax net for the betterment of national economy.

Syed Sadaqat Hussain
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2022