Business
ADB vows to continue boosting investment | The Express Tribune
ISLAMABAD:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has affirmed its commitment to scaling up investments in Pakistan, particularly in the transport and communications sector.
“Pakistan remains a priority country under the ADB’s development programme,” remarked Regional Head Leah Gutierrez while talking to Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan on Tuesday. The regional head, who was accompanied by a delegation, invited the minister to participate in the upcoming Bishkek Conference in November, said a press release.
Gutierrez and her delegation members assured the minister that the bank would continue to expand investments in Pakistan not only in the communications sector but also across other fields while promoting business-to-business (B2B) and government-to-government (G2G) initiatives.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said that Pakistan values its partnership with the ADB and the bank’s interest in road infrastructure development was highly encouraging. He highlighted that significant investment opportunities exist in communications, railways and infrastructure sectors.
Abdul Aleem underscored the importance of Carec (Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation) programme in attracting international investment. “Bringing together multiple countries under one roof for investment in Pakistan is a positive step that will particularly enhance road infrastructure and the overall communications sector,” he remarked.
The federal minister emphasised Pakistan’s commitment to completing trade corridors through Iran, Afghanistan and China, adding that such connectivity would not only strengthen trade but also promote tourism.
He underlined the necessity of launching direct flights between regional countries alongside railway track upgrades and road construction.
He informed the ADB delegation that Pakistan has made remarkable progress in visa facilitation by enabling the issuance of multiple-entry visas, particularly for the business community, within 24 hours.
He proposed that Carec member states, similar to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), could consider streamlined visa issuance and enhanced regional connectivity.
Senior officials, including the federal secretary for communications, the chairman of the National Highway Authority and other high-ranking officers, briefed the ADB delegation on key departmental matters during the meeting.
Eimear DevlinBBC Money Box reporter
Eve CravenThe UK’s tax body is reviewing its decisions to strip child benefit from about 23,500 claimants after it used travel data to conclude they had left the country permanently.
Normally the benefit runs out after eight weeks living outside the UK, but many people affected complained that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had stopped their money after they went on holiday for just a short time.
The move came after MPs on the Treasury Select Committee demanded answers from the tax authority.
HMRC has apologised for any errors and says anyone who thinks their benefits have been stopped incorrectly should contact them.
In September, the government began a crackdown on child benefit fraud which it believes could save £350m over five years.
The new system allows HMRC records to be compared with Home Office international travel data, and the tax authority had used this data to stop payments to thousands of families.
But it is now reviewing all of the cases following a growing number of complaints from people affected who said they had been on holiday, and had returned to the UK after a short time.
Eve Craven went on a five-day break with her son to New York. She told the BBC’s Money Box programme that about 18 months after the trip she received a letter saying the child benefit for her son had been stopped.
The letter cited her trip to the US, saying it had no record of her return.
“It gave me a month basically to give them all the requested information to prove that I’d come back to the UK,” she said.
“It’s just a very big ask for something that they’ve messed up on, and they should have been able to sort out themselves.”
Eve’s child benefit has now been reinstated with missing payments backdated.
The issue was first identified in Northern Ireland, where some families had flown out of the UK from Belfast, but then returned to Dublin – which is in the EU – before driving home over the border.
UK and Irish citizens can travel freely into each other’s countries under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
There are no routine passport checks when travelling through the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, meaning the UK government has no data to show that someone may have returned to Northern Ireland.
It is not clear how many errors have been made in total, or how.
HMRC told Money Box it would be reviewing all past cases “using PAYE data and where continued UK employment is found, will be reinstating payments and making any back payments necessary”.
It is aiming to complete its review by the end of next week.
MPs on the Treasury Select Committee are also now investigating.
Additional reporting by Nick Edser
Last Updated:
Mumbai ITAT rules compensation for flat delivery delays is not taxable under Section 50C. Experts say this offers relief to taxpayers facing project delays.
Section 50C Can’t Apply Without Actual Property Transfer, Rules Mumbai ITAT
In a significant ruling, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that compensation received for delay in construction or delivery of a flat cannot be taxed under Section 50C of the Income Tax Act. The tribunal clarified that such compensation is distinct from sale consideration and does not attract stamp valuation provisions.
The tribunal also emphasised that the delay compensation is essentially a form of interest paid by the builder for the inconvenience caused to the homebuyer due to delayed possession. As such, it is taxable under ‘Income from Other Sources’, in line with provisions applicable to interest income, and is subject to tax at the individual’s slab rate.
Commenting on the ruling, Anita Basrur, Partner at Sudit K. Parekh & Co. LLP, said the decision “clearly brings out that sale consideration and compensation are different.” She explained that Section 50C applies only when the sale consideration for a transfer of immovable property is lower than the stamp duty value. “In this case, the transfer involved a flat received in exchange for land, and the additional compensation was purely compensatory — not a sale consideration,” Basrur noted.
She added that the judgment offers timely relief for taxpayers amid rising cases of project delays and associated compensation payments. “With delays in projects and compensation becoming common, this decision will give the desired relief to purchasers and help settle several pending disputes,” she said.
CA Akshay Jain, Direct Tax Partner at NPV & Associates LLP, echoed similar views, clarifying the tax treatment of such payments. “Since there is no transfer of any capital asset at the time of receiving compensation for delayed possession, it cannot be taxed under capital gains,” he said. Jain added that such payments are “taxable under the head ‘income from other sources’,” not as capital receipts.
On the applicability of Section 50C to extinguishment of development rights, Jain explained that the section requires an actual transfer of land or building. “In case of extinguishment of development rights, there is no transfer of immovable property, so Section 50C cannot be invoked,” he said, citing the Mumbai ITAT’s ruling in Suvarna Chandrakant Bhojane vs ITO that supported this interpretation.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
November 09, 2025, 16:43 IST
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Scotland’s Finance Secretary says she may have to “potentially revisit” her tax plans amid reports the Chancellor will increase income tax in the Budget this month.
Shona Robison said the Scottish Government had a “very limited” set of levers to respond if Rachel Reeves makes the tax decision on November 26.
The Fraser of Allander Institute has estimated a 2p income tax hike in the UK Budget could cut Scotland’s funding by £1 billion because of the way the fiscal framework operates.
Ms Robison has requested an urgent meeting with the Chancellor, saying Ms Reeves should ditch her fiscal rules and instead deliver investment “to grow the economy and support people with the cost of living”.
Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Ms Robison said the fiscal framework does not take account of changes to national insurance – another levy the Chancellor is reportedly considering changing.
The fiscal framework governs the public money coming to the Scottish Government, but Ms Robison said the system is now in “uncharted territory” as it did not envisage simultaneous changes to both income tax and national insurance.
Ms Robison was asked if she would raise Scottish income tax rates in response to any income tax increase in the Chancellor’s Budget.
She said: “I’m not going to set out here today what our plans for income tax are when we don’t know what we’re going to face on the 26th…
“If we end up in this scenario, then the levers available to us are very limited.
“Unless there is flexibility given to us through the fiscal framework – which would be my first ask, that we need to have that flexibility.
“Because we don’t want to raise taxes, we had already set out in the tax strategy that we want to see that stability till the end of the Parliament.
“But in the event of unforeseen exceptional circumstances, clearly we would have to potentially revisit that.”
Under the devolution settlement, the Scottish Government has powers to adjust income tax rates north of the border.
An HM Treasury spokesperson said earlier: “Our record funding settlement for Scotland will mean over 20% more funding per head than the rest of the UK.
“We have also confirmed £8.3 billion in funding for GB Energy-Nuclear and GB Energy in Aberdeen, up to £750 million for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University, and are investing £452 million over four years for City and Growth Deals across Scotland.
“This investment is all possible because our fiscal rules are non-negotiable, they are the basis of the stability which underpins growth.”
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