Karachi, May 14, 2025 – The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has put forth a significant recommendation as part of its tax proposals for the upcoming budget 2025-26: a ban on all property transactions undertaken by individuals who are not active filers of income tax returns.
This bold proposal aims to broaden the tax base and enhance compliance within the real estate sector.
In its comprehensive budget recommendations, the KTBA also addressed critical issues surrounding withholding tax under Sections 236C and 236K of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. The association specifically urged the government to significantly reduce the existing withholding tax rates on property transactions.
The KTBA argued that the current withholding tax rates imposed on property transactions under sections 236C and 236K are excessively burdensome and serve as a major impediment to activity within the real estate market. While acknowledging that these taxes were initially implemented as a mechanism for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to gather crucial data on both buyers and sellers of property, the KTBA contends that the FBR has now amassed a sufficient amount of this information.
Continuing to primarily utilize these withholding taxes as a revenue generation tool, according to the KTBA, places undue and unnecessary pressure on the real estate sector. This sector has already navigated substantial challenges in recent years, making the high tax rates particularly detrimental.
The KTBA firmly believes that drastically reducing these withholding tax rates would provide much-needed relief to the struggling real estate sector and, in turn, encourage greater transactional activity. By making property transactions less financially prohibitive, the association anticipates a revitalization of the market. The proposed ban on non-filer transactions, coupled with lower tax rates for filers, represents a two-pronged approach by the KTBA to foster growth and compliance within the property market.
This proposal sparks debate on balancing revenue needs with sector growth, impacting Pakistan’s economic landscape.