KARACHI: The federal government collected Rs 1,499.81 billion as taxes from the telecom sector during the last 15 years.
Since fiscal year 2002-03, the government has pocketed almost Rs 1500 billion from the sector till December 2017.
Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has taken notice of ‘unreasonable’ tax deduction from mobile phone pre-paid calling cards and easy load facilities. The Chief Justice of Pakistan summoned the Attorney General (AG) and highlighted that there were complaints about taxes on calling cards being unreasonably high.
In this regard, the SC also issued notices to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and all four mobile phone service companies operating in the country to appear before the court on May 8 (today).
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data, the federal government collected Rs 749.31 billion only in terms of GST and Activation Tax indirectly from consumers in the last 15 years, while Rs 750 million was collected under other heads.
High custom duty and other taxes on the import of mobile handsets and telecom equipment also impede the mobile penetration, it added. At present, telecom consumers are charged 19.5 percent in form of GST and 12.5 percent in form of WHT; while 16 percent GST and 10 percent WHT are charged in other sectors.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in its latest annual report, admitted that the WHT @12.5 percent on every mobile recharge and tax rates by provincial revenue authorities were still quite high and should be reduced. The PTA said harmonisation of federal and provincial tax laws was important to resolve sales tax collection issues and avoid undue litigation between operators and the federation.
