In the federal budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, the government has agreed to increase the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on telecommunication services from 16% to 19.5%.
While presenting the federal budget on Friday, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated that the government had chosen to increase FED on telecom services.
The previous government decreased the federal excise duty on telecom services from 17% to 16% last year to help enterprises and the general public. However, the FED on telecom services has been raised for FY23, which is expected to put pressure on businesses and, most importantly, end-users.
It means that on a recharge of Rs 100, you will only get Rs. 80.5, which is indeed one of the lowest amounts of all time. And it is questionable that when the users already pay taxes on calls and text messages, why is there an increase in the recharge tax deduction.