Revision of collector rates of immovable assets: RTOs asked to approach provincial secretaries

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asked all Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) to approach provincial chief secretaries, finance secretaries and secretaries for excise and taxation for the revision of the collector rates of the immovable assets, which are 10 times less than the prevalent market rates.
Sources told Business Recorder on Wednesday that Director General of RTO, Karachi Imtiaz Ahmed Barakzai has brought the issue to light at the DGs conference held recently at the FBR headquarter, Islamabad. Sources said he was of the view that the Capital Value Tax (CVT) is being deducted on old rates notified by the collectors, which doesn''t commensurate with the present market value of the property. Therefore, the matter should be looked into.
They said if the collector rates of immovable property were raised accordingly, the collection of CVT, provincial tax and excise duty would increase significantly. Sources said the board is striving hard to increase the CVT collection, which is required to be deducted at source.
Therefore, the RTO Karachi has established three offices in the city to plug revenue leakage. At present, there are 26 sub-registrars located at seven different places of the metropolis including Malir, West Site, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Nazimabad, City Station and Clifton, they said.
They said CVT kiosks would also be established to facilitate taxpayers with regard to verification of National Tax Number (NTN) besides disseminating information to the officers having the same jurisdiction. They said the CVT system would be installed at all registrar offices and provincial motor vehicle registration department to assess CVT on every transaction.
They said the system would also be installed at all utilities'' offices including Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to determine the capacity of individual or a company of paying taxes. Sources hoped that the system, which is a complete online solution, would certainly improve data processing of CVT on immovable and movable assets across the country.