The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday issued a flurry of notifications regarding upward revisions in the valuation rates of immovable property in 20 major cities of the country.

The average increase in valuations is around 20 per cent, but some areas have seen a much sharper revision in taxable rates. The new rates, which the FBR will use to calculate withholding and capital gains taxes when properties in notified areas are bought and sold, are applicable from February 1, 2019.

Among the largest cities, the area-wise categorisation of Karachi reveals that the city has been divided into 196 areas for the purposes of valuation.

Under the categorisation scheme, properties on Abdullah Haroon Road, Bath Island, I.I. Chundhrigar Road and PECHS are among 22 localities listed under the 'A-1' category. Residential plots in this category have been valued at Rs42,000 per square yard, while commercial plots have been valued at Rs120,000 per sq. ft.

A 100 per cent upward increase has been made in the valuation of immovable properties in some sectors of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Karachi. In the rest of the areas of the city, the FBR has revised its valuations by 15 to 20pc.

Lahore is a primary focus of the property re-evaluation drive, where 1,234 areas have been re-evaluated for tax collection purposes.

According to the notifications issued, residential properties in Gulberg have been assessed at between Rs1,656,000 per marla to Rs1,224,000 per marla, while commercial properties have been valued at between Rs3,168,000 per marla and Rs1,728,000 per marla.

Residential and commercial properties in Zaman Park have been revalued to Rs691,200 per marla and Rs1,368,000 per marla, respectively.

The valuation of 28 areas of Rawalpindi and 90 areas of Islamabad has also been revised upwards by the FBR.

In Rawalpindi, residential areas in Satellite Town have been valued at Rs3,000,000 per marla while commercial areas have been valued at Rs1,680,000/marla.

Residential properties in DHA have been valued at between Rs420,000 and Rs132,000 per marla, while commercial areas have been estimated at Rs3,000,000/marla.

In Islamabad, the upscale localities of F-6 to F-11 have been valued between Rs50,460 per square yard to Rs58,260 per square yard.

On the other hand the valuation of commercial spaces in F-6 start at 29,700 per square yard and go up to 148,500 per square yard. In F-11 Markaz, the value ranges from Rs142,560 per square yard to Rs19,800 per square yard.

A total of 339 areas of Peshawar and 426 areas of Quetta have also been re-evaluated by the board.

Residential properties on Peshawar's Mall road have been valued at Rs1,322,795, while commercial properties here have been estimated at Rs5,732,110 per marla.

In Sadar Bazar, residential areas are valued at Rs1,322,795 per marla while commercial areas will cost Rs5,732,110.

The revised property valuation rates have brought them to around 60 per cent of their actual market values, FBR spokesman Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar told The Express Tribune.

He further said another phase of re-evaluation would kick off from July or September to bring the rates to 80pc of market values.

Other cities and the number of areas whose property valuations have been revised upwards by the FBR include:

• Jhang – 623 areas
• Gujrat – 538 areas
• Sialkot – 701 areas
• Sargodha – 31 areas
• Sahiwal – 338 areas
• Multan – 593 areas
• Mardan – 17 areas
• Jhelum – 892 areas
• Hyderabad – 26 areas
• Abbottabad – 7 areas
• Bahawalpur – 424 areas
• Gujranwala – 186 areas
• Faisalabad – 811 areas
• Sukkur – 22 areas