ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed two treasury benches bills including the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Public Private Partnership Authority Bill 2016.
Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid on behalf of Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Ishaq Dar tabled both the bills in the House.
The statement of objects and reasons of the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill says that in order to bring undocumented part of transactions of immovable property into formal economy and to document transactions at fair market value, amendments were introduced in the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 through Finance Act 2016. Under the amendment, the powers of Commissioner were withdrawn and valuation was to be made by a panel of approved values of State Bank of Pakistan.
To resolve the concerns of business community in general and realtor, rest estate developer and property dealers associations in particular, regarding valuations to notify fair market valuation labels through Federal Board of Revenue in order to remove ambiguity and to bring transparency with regard to the fair value of the property. The objective is being pursued in such a way so as to promote documentation and to generate fair and due revenues for the state.
The statement of objects and reasons of the Public Private Partnership Authority bill says that the government alone cannot provide finance due to its own limitations, therefore, promotion of private sector investment in this area is critical. The use of public private partnership (PPPs) is likely to become widespread in Pakistan, with an expected surge in PPP-financed projects in near future.
The bill will provide a regulatory framework to execute Public Private Partnerships in Pakistan so as to promote domestic and foreign private investment in infrastructure.
