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Posted: 21 Jul 2016 06:01 AM PDT The recent standstill seen in the market in terms of property sale and purchase activity followed by protests held by property agents throughout the country lead to a formal meeting between Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) senior officials and representatives of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries and property dealers association held a couple of days ago. The meeting turned out to be successful, and the government has taken back its decision to valuate property through State Bank of Pakistan’s appointed valuators. Congratulations readers! With regard to how the offices concerned will now valuate the property and reduce the stark difference between Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rate and real time market value, several theories are circulating the market. Please note that the final decision is yet to be taken and a meeting will be held in this regard between Fi...

The Finance Bill 2016 caught everyone by surprise in the real estate sector, especially persons with black money and short term speculators. For them it is a nightmare that FBR can value the properties at fair market value, which has taxation repercussions regarding source of investment and thereafter can levy Capital Gain Tax (CGT) if the asset is held for less than five years. The whole real estate market is in shock and allegedly, in some major housing entities the business is almost at a halt. There are visible signs that strikes are being arranged in some major cities of Pakistan but so far no defined agenda in terms of demands has been made public especially by any real estate dealers association. Interestingly, the hearsay is that the two major amendments would discourage foreign remittance to Pakistan. If overseas Pakistanis remit their money through normal banking channels per Income Tax Ordinance 2001, they are exempt from tax and the remitted mon...

By   Karl Smallwood,    Kier Harris   February 06, 2012   We've all dreamed of having  superpowers  at some point (today), but the majority of us have to accept the sobering reality that preternatural abilities simply aren't possible. That is, except for some rare cases of real, actual people with bona fide powers that defy explanation (and in some cases practical application). For instance ... #6. Ma Xiangang Is Impervious to Electric Shock Ma Xiangang is a man capable of something not many others are or would have a practical reason to be -- he can touch live wires filled with scrotum-popcorning electricity and feel no pain whatsoever. As with most superpower discoveries, Xiangang found his by acting like a braying jackass. One day when his television quit working, he went to go monkey with the fuse box to try to get it to come back on, accidentally touching a live wire in the process. Normally this story would end with people stand...