{"id":64454,"date":"2025-02-03T13:34:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T08:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=64454"},"modified":"2025-02-03T13:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T08:40:14","slug":"overseas-pakistani-refuse-to-pay-withholding-tax-payments-in-dollars-to-purchase-plots-in-islamabad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/overseas-pakistani-refuse-to-pay-withholding-tax-payments-in-dollars-to-purchase-plots-in-islamabad\/","title":{"rendered":"Overseas Pakistanis refuse to pay withholding tax, payments in dollars to purchase plots in Islamabad"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: In a recent development, Overseas Pakistanis are refusing to pay the withholding tax and Federal Excise Duty<\/a> for their first-time<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>plots<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>purchased<\/span>\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span>newly<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>approved\u00a0<\/span>sectors of the federal capital.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>demands<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>started<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>surging<\/span> following<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>recent<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>news<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>developments<\/span> regarding<\/span> the Capital Development Authority<\/a> (CDA) and\u00a0<\/span>balloting<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Sector C-14<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CDA had earlier\u00a0<\/span>indicated<\/span>\u00a0that payments\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>purchase<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>plots<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>be\u00a0<\/span>remitted<\/span>\u00a0in US dollars<\/a> through\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span> banking channel <\/span>within 30 days of\u00a0<\/span>sending\u00a0<\/span>the notification\u00a0<\/span>which<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>was dispatched\u00a0<\/span>on January 15. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, many overseas Pakistanis are\u00a0<\/span>reportedly<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>facing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>difficulties<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with this requirement given<\/span> the\u00a0<\/span>extremely\u00a0<\/span>high banking fees\u00a0<\/span>for<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>remittance<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>abroad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>government<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is facing demands from <\/span>successful overseas applicants for Sector C-14\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>make<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>payments\u00a0<\/span>in Pakistani rupees instead of US dollars. This <\/span>will<\/span>\u00a0not only\u00a0<\/span>reduce<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>burden but also\u00a0<\/span>make<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>payment\u00a0<\/span>easier<\/span>\u00a0for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shahid Jami,\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>tax<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>expert,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>also<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mentions<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0overseas Pakistanis\u00a0<\/span>face<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>difficulties<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>recovering<\/span>\u00a0withholding\u00a0<\/span>tax refunds<\/span>. Since they\u00a0<\/span>usually<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>don’t<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>have taxable income in Pakistan, they\u00a0<\/span>face<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>problems<\/span> in claiming refunds, which\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>major<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>challenge<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0problem<\/span>\u00a0has\u00a0<\/span>compelled<\/span>\u00a0the federal government to\u00a0<\/span>constitute<\/span>\u00a0a task force to\u00a0<\/span>suggest<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>changes<\/span>\u00a0for the real estate and housing sector. The task force has submitted over 40 recommendations, which are\u00a0<\/span>going<\/span>\u00a0to be discussed in\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0meeting chaired by the Prime Minister today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The key consideration<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>would<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>be\u00a0<\/span>recommended is\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>exemption<\/span>\u00a0of withholding tax and Federal Excise Duty for\u00a0<\/span>the first-time<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>purchase<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>plot,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>much-needed relief to overseas Pakistanis.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00a0<\/span>should<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>be<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>noted<\/span>\u00a0that many countries\u00a0<\/span>have<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>adopted the waiver of\u00a0<\/span>tax\u00a0<\/span>on<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0first<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>home purchase<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Pakistan has\u00a0<\/span>not<\/span>. By implementing such a policy, the government can\u00a0<\/span>also<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>encourage\u00a0<\/span>overseas Pakistanis to invest in the\u00a0<\/span>real estate sector, which would\u00a0<\/span>help<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>boost economic growth\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>provide\u00a0<\/span>much-needed stimulus to the housing market.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: In a recent development, Overseas Pakistanis are refusing to pay the withholding tax and Federal Excise Duty for their first-time\u00a0plots\u00a0purchased\u00a0in the\u00a0newly\u00a0approved\u00a0sectors of the federal capital.\u00a0 The\u00a0demands\u00a0started\u00a0surging following\u00a0recent\u00a0news\u00a0and\u00a0developments regarding the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and\u00a0balloting\u00a0in\u00a0Sector C-14. The CDA had earlier\u00a0indicated\u00a0that payments\u00a0to\u00a0purchase\u00a0plots\u00a0are\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0remitted\u00a0in US dollars through\u00a0the banking channel within 30 days of\u00a0sending\u00a0the notification\u00a0which\u00a0was dispatched\u00a0on January 15. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":64455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2689,13236,17839],"class_list":["post-64454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-overseas-pakistanis","tag-capital-development-authority-cda","tag-sector-c-14-islamabad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64458,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64454\/revisions\/64458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}