Soft taxation regime for Real estate sector

LAHORE: The government must formulate special policies and introduce a soft tax regime for the country’s real estate sector.

This was the result of the speeches made at a seminar on houses and real estate at the Commercial and Industrial Industry of Lahore (LCCI).

The seminar was attended by LCCI interim President Faheemur Rehman Saigal, Al-Jalil Developers Chairman Nasrullah Waraich, Federal Task Force on Housing Manager Zaigham Rizvi, renowned architects Professor Jason Pomeroy, Yaqoob Tahir Izhar, Akber Sheikh and Mian Abuzar Shad.

The experts noted that in Pakistan the population is growing rapidly, resulting in the expansion of residential areas and increased the need for food and other necessities.

LCCI interim president Faheemur Rehman Saigal said Pakistan is the only country in the region where residential areas are spreading every day, adding that no fundamental change in construction technologies has occurred since independence.

Citing an example from Singapore, he said in 1965-66, Singapore was one of the worst slums in the world. “But they’ve been working on it and now they have great community structures.”

He urged the government to take immediate measures to deal with the uncontrolled expansion of residential areas and consequent downsizing of the agricultural areas.

Saigal further stressed the need to bring the real estate sector within the formal economy, as it was the second largest sector in the context of employment.

The acting president of LCCI said real estate is an important sector of the economy that needs to be protected by favorable policies and a mild tax regime. “The sector has the potential to attract not only local investors but also foreign Pakistanis and foreign investors.”

He said the fungal growth of housing societies is consuming the agricultural land and is an agricultural land, Pakistan cannot afford it, suggesting that this issue could be addressed through horizontal housing developments.

“Despite being a dynamic sector with the capacity to attract huge foreign investment, the real estate sector has faced unfavorable circumstances and struggled to survive due to redundant policies and heavy taxation.”

He said the government will not be able to achieve its economic goals without the support of the business community, which suffers severely from the severe issues like attachment of bank accounts, political instability and heavy taxation on trade and industry.