Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and real estate sector established separate committees to evaluate the fair market value of property in big cities. The concluding session will be held on Friday (today) to finalise the DC Rate of above mentioned and other cities. Both parties sit together in the FBR for the fifth time to determine the fair market rate in 21 cities but the negotiation could not be successful as Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD), the main negotiating party, rejected the government market rate. Soon after the negotiation, talking with media President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Abdur Rauf said that government should not increase the price overnight, and suggested a middle solution in determining the price of land. Talking about amnesty schemes to the Real Estate Sector, he said that we will discuss the amnesty scheme to this sector in the second part of negotiation. Vice president of ABAD Asif Jeeva while talking to media said that there was a huge of difference in FBR DC or Market value rate. The government wanted a 400 per cent increase in DC Rate, which Jeeva rejected. On the other hand, senior official of FBR revealed that separate committees had been established in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to evaluate the Fair Market price. It was the prerogative of the government to collect tax from this sector and he promised to collect it. The government and real estate sector have been negotiating for the last fifteen days to determine the fair market price but it could not succeed so far. The government had made a 13-member committee consisting of EBAD and other stakeholders to evaluate the fair market value of 21 cities and sought a report within five days. On Wednesday both parties met again in FBR but the meeting did not reach any conclusion.