New Delhi, April 25 Pakistan’s latest revision of property valuation tables by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has once again exposed the formidable influence of the real estate sector and the state’s limited ability to enforce meaningful tax reforms in this domain, a report has said.
What was initially presented as a move to bring official land values closer to prevailing market rates has, over time, been steadily watered down through a series of reversals, suspensions and concessions, according to Dawn report.
The revised valuations, particularly in Islamabad, have seen reductions ranging between 10 and 35 per cent, following strong resistance from developers and builders.
Even the earlier upward adjustments had been widely viewed as falling short of actual market prices.
Yet instead of narrowing the gap between declared and real transaction values, the latest revisions appear to have widened it further.
This persistent disparity continues to create space for under-reporting, tax evasion and the circulation of undocumented wealth, the report said.
Concerns have also been raised over the selective manner in which these revisions have been carried out.
Rather than implementing a transparent, across-the-board revaluation, the FBR has opted for targeted adjustments in specific localities.
This approach has fueled perceptions that valuation changes are the result of negotiations with influential stakeholders rather than an objective and data-driven process, as per the report.
At the core of the issue lies the entrenched dominance of the real estate sector within Pakistan’s political economy.
Widely regarded as one of the most powerful business lobbies in the country, its influence extends across political, bureaucratic and institutional spheres, the report said.
With significant stakes held by key actors in positions of authority, attempts to impose effective taxation on the sector have repeatedly encountered resistance.
The broader economic implications of this dynamic are significant. Real estate continues to serve as a preferred avenue for parking untaxed or illicit wealth, while also encouraging speculative investments at the expense of productive economic activity.
This structural imbalance contributes to Pakistan’s persistently low tax-to-GDP ratio and its heavy reliance on indirect taxes, which disproportionately burden ordinary citizens, as per the report.
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