The short answer, in practical terms, is a big NO. Here is why!

In Canada and the United States, a property sale is generally handled through a documented legal process involving lawyers, title professionals, licensed real estate agents and banking channels. The buyer and seller need not personally deal with every stage of the transaction. Title, identity, contractual documents and the movement of funds are handled within a regulated framework, and the transaction is recorded at the agreed consideration, subject to applicable tax and anti-money-laundering requirements.

Now consider selling a property in Pakistan, particularly in an affluent locality such as the Defence Housing Authority in Karachi. What should be a straightforward legal transaction can become a long and exhausting exercise. Pakistan's property system remains fragmented, with provincial valuation rates (DC rates), FBR valuation tables and the actual market price often existing side by side. These official values may be used to calculate taxes, duties, fees or other charges, but they do not necessarily represent the property's actual market value or the price agreed between buyer and seller.

This difference creates a peculiar problem for the honest taxpayer. A seller who insists that the genuine market value be recorded and........

© The Express Tribune