ISLAMABAD: At a time when the business community in the federal capital has announced a protest for Dec 22, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has suspended the implementation of the new valuation table for tax assessment in the capital for the next one and a half months.

The FBR has issued an official statement to hold in abeyance the revised rates notified through a notification SRO 2392 of 2025 last week. The notification will remain suspended until Jan 31, 2026 or the issuance of a new SRO fair market values of immovable properties of Islamabad, whichever is earlier.

On Monday, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced a protest demonstration and sit-in outside the FBR House on Dec 22 if the notification was not withdrawn. The business community has outrightly rejected the new valuation table in the federal capital.

A notification issued by the FBR stated that revised property valuation tables were implemented nationwide on Oct 29, 2024, excluding District Islamabad due to a pending Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) complaint.

Revised rates put on hold until Jan 31 after business groups reject sharp hikes

Later on, SRO 2392 was issued on Dec 8, to determine fair market values for immovable properties in Islamabad. However, real estate associations and other stakeholders raised concerns, urging the FBR to revisit the table, citing that certain areas were assigned values higher than prevailing market rates.

Upon review, the FBR acknowledged that some of the objections raised by Real Estate Associations were valid. Consequently, the FBR has decided to re-evaluate the property valuation table for District Islamabad.

In the meantime, the previous valuation under SRO1180 (1)/2022, issued on July 27, 2022, as amended by SRO 1610(1)/2022, will remain applicable. The decision was taken with the approval of the Competent Authority, the FBR stated.

Since 2016, the FBR has been carrying out the task of determining a property’s fair market price in major urban centres. In the provinces, valuation tables are typically notified by the district collector under Section 27-A of the Stamp Act of 1899.

The revised property tables will be used to calculate federal taxes, including capital gains tax (CGT) and withholding tax. Internationally, tax is charged on the transaction value, but in Pakistan, the collector value is often much lower than the actual transaction value.

According to the ICCI, official residential and commercial property values in Islamabad have reportedly been increased by up to 1,700 per cent through the new notification. The chamber further said that property values were raised from 200pc to as much as 1,700pc. As a result, property transfer fees have surged from around Rs4m to as high as Rs10m.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2025