Budget 2024: Sindh to tax air tickets, properties, businesses

The Sindh government has proposed new taxes on air tickets, properties, and businesses in its annual budget for the fiscal year 2024-25.

According to the Finance Bill, the PPP-ruled province plans to impose a Rs250 tax on air tickets for domestic flights and a Rs1,000 tax on air tickets for international flights.

Presenting the budget in the Sindh Assembly, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah highlighted the significant challenges the province has faced over the last five years.

The government has introduced several amendments to the Stamp Act and the GST on Services Act as part of the Bill. Additionally, the provincial government has proposed a three percent tax on the determined value of lands, shops, and residential flats in the real estate market. The amendment specifies, “At the rate of two percent of the valuation table or declared value recorded in the instrument, whichever is higher,” for properties associated with Real Estate Investment Trusts.

This duty will also apply to the transfer of lease by way of assignment.

An Rs5,000 tax has been proposed on allotment orders, issuance, or renewal of sanads by the government. The same tax will apply to the acknowledgment or receipt of money or any other consideration related to immovable property.

The law concerning agreements or memoranda of agreements has also been amended. The province seeks to impose an Rs1,000 tax on the “sale or transfer of a regional motor vehicle; sale or transfer of immovable property; or re-conveyance of mortgage property.”

Furthermore, the government has proposed an Rs5,000 tax on agreements related to the execution of contracts between builders, developers, and/or allottees for the booking of apartments, shops, houses, offices, or plots in public sale projects approved by the Sindh Building Control Authority.