Govt Eases Buying Property and Cars for Non-Filers

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday announced Rs. 36 billion in new taxes. Originally, the government proposed to ban anyone from buying homes, cars, or making large financial transactions if their declared income didn’t support it. That condition has now been limited to high-end purchases only. The rule will apply only to cars above 1,600cc, residential properties larger than one kanal in major cities and two kanals in others, cash deposits exceeding Rs. 100 million per year, and stock investments over Rs. 50 million per year. This rollback renders the FBR’s enforcement drive nearly ineffective. The finance minister said these changes were made on the prime minister’s instructions and acknowledged the FBR’s limited capacity to enforce the original plan. Aurangzeb also introduced three tax measures to raise Rs. 36 billion by increasing tax on the debt portion of mutual funds for companies from 25 percent to 29 percent, raising tax on corporate income from government securities from 15 percent to 20 percent, and imposing a Rs. 10 Federal Excise Duty per day-old chick to collect Rs. 15 billion annually. Further key announcements: On tax fraud enforcement, Aurangzeb said: