ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and cellular companies have yet to devise a mechanism for non-deduction of withholding tax from mobile subscribers who do not fall under the tax net.
In this regard a meeting was held at the FBR, which was attended by the attorney general of Pakistan, four advocate generals of the provinces and representatives of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and mobile companies. The meeting decided that mobile phone users will enjoy tax-free mobile loads and calls for all cellular networks till the next orders of the Supreme Court.
Sources said the meeting was informed that around 99.3 percent people do not fall in the tax net, but the government collects around Rs47 billion under the head of withholding tax. The cellular companies informed the participants that currently no technical solution is available with them to differentiate between return filers and non-filers, but it is possible if the FBR provides data of return filers. However, fearing a huge revenue shortfall, the meeting remained inconclusive and decided to meet again on Monday (July 2).
The apex court has stated that withholding tax should not be applied on everyone as not every mobile phone user comes under tax net and hence it cannot be applied on every subscriber.
