Telecom services: Senate panel discusses tax collection

ISLAMABAD: Senate Secretariat standing committee on Information, Technology and Telecommunication on Thursday expressed reservations over the mechanism adopted by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Pakistan Telecommunication Association regarding collection of taxes from cellular operators. The committee met under the chairmanship of Senator Shahi Syed. The FBR informed the committee that Rs43 billion was collected as withholding tax and Rs2.7 billion Federal Excise Duty (FED) in 2015-16.Tax collection by provinces under the head of GST is excluding these numbers. The committee gave the proposals for rationalising the taxation structure as telecom is one of the heaviest taxed sectors in the country. The committee was informed that provinces are charging different rates for GST taxes on telecom sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2017.

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