Will Pakistan reduce mobile phone taxes?

ISLAMABAD:  As of April 16, 2020, there is reason to believe that the government will be taking steps to lower the current amount of tax imposed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on smartphones.

A significant new development was made public yesterday by the Standing Committee on Finance of the National Assembly pertaining to the issue of excessively high taxation on mobile phones.

The committee met and examined a joint report prepared by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Ministry of Finance that addressed the ongoing issues surrounding mobile phone taxation, and the committee voted to act on its recommendations.

The committee recommended that the Federal Government and the Ministry of Finance reduce the current level of mobile phone tax by 50%.

The tax relief recommendation was made unanimously. The FBR chairman, PTA chairman, and the secretary of finance had all previously committed to compiling the data used for making these recommendations from a joint study in order to determine how each of the taxes imposed on mobile phones would be reduced.

The purpose of the recommendations made by the committee was to improve consumer affordability of mobile phones. The committee identified that in doing so, this could lead to an increased level of digital inclusion for individuals throughout the country.