According to FBR, individuals not listed in the Active Taxpayers List (ATL) will now face a 0.8% advance adjustable tax on daily bank withdrawals exceeding Rs50,000. Previously, this tax rate stood at 0.6%. Banks have been authorized to deduct this tax directly from the accounts of non-filers.

Property dealings are also seeing a tax overhaul. For property buyers, there’s good news — the withholding tax has been reduced by 1.5% across all slabs. However, property sellers or those transferring ownership will now pay 1.5% more tax than before in every slab, aiming to better capture capital gains.

Under the revised slabs:

For property purchases worth up to Rs50,000,000, the tax has been slashed from 3% to 1.5%.

On purchases up to Rs100,000,000, the tax rate drops from 3.5% to 2%.

For property exceeding Rs100,000,000, the tax rate has been cut from 4% to 2.5%.

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Economic analysts say these adjustments are designed to expand the tax net and streamline real estate transactions. However, non-filers will now face steeper costs in banking operations and may feel the pressure to regularize their tax status.

FBR’s new tax measures seem to serve a dual purpose — rewarding tax-compliant individuals while tightening the noose around non-filers. Lower taxes on buyers may boost real estate investment, but increased banking transaction taxes could push non-filers toward informal cash systems. This shift marks a calculated step in formalizing Pakistan’s financial ecosystem, though its success will hinge on enforcement and public response.