Construction Sector Amnesty Scheme extended till June-2021

January 1, 2021

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Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan announced on Thursday extension in the fixed tax regime till Dec 31, 2021.

Prime Minister also confirmed that Construction projects of Rs186 billion have been registered with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) under incentives given for construction Sector”.

“PM also conveyed his belief that the economic construction sector generates will be equivalent to Rs1,500bn in Punjab alone, and will result in 250,000 jobs. Similar projects have also been started in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi and Balochistan.

Prime Minister conveyed that government has given packages for low-cost housing for salaried people who were unable to afford houses. In this regard first success was the foreclosure law. Banks have committed to allocate Rs378bn for construction activity till Dec 31, 2021.

PM also discussed about the subsidy given for low-cost housing. He mentioned that interest rate on Housing Loan will not be more than five per cent on houses of five marlas and the interest rate for houses of 10 marlas will not be more than 7pc. For the first 100,000 houses that will be built, the Government has decided to give Rs300,000 per house. Government has decided to give subsidies of Rs30bn for low-cost housing.

The prime minister also extended other exemptions, including the exemption from Section 111 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for builders which empowered tax authorities to inquire about the sources of a person’s assets or cash till June-2021 end

The deadline for projects that were due to be completed by Sept 30, 2023, has been extended for another year. Government has also extended the exemption for buyers to disclose sources of income to March 31, 2023.

Government back in April-2020, announced amnesty measures for the construction sector to avoid the negative impact of COVID19 Pandemic on the economy.