ISLAMABAD: In a response submitted before the Supreme Court (SC) over the tax ratio imposed on mobile phone users in Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has stated that it is relatively lesser than that imposed in other Asian countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
The reply goes on to state that while federal excise duty has been reduced to 17 per cent, Rs4.5 billion is collected in terms of withholding tax every month.
“In the financial year 2016-17 alone, Rs51 billion was been submitted in the national exchequer in terms of withholding tax,” states the reply.
It further states that the withholding tax constitutes 70 per cent of direct tax collections and advance withholding tax is submitted to the mobile consumer’s account.
Earlier, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had taken a suo motu notice of the “unreasonable” deductions made from consumers’ mobile top-ups on the pretext of withholding taxes and other charges.
“How are they charging withholding tax from 140 million mobile service subscribers who are not eligible to pay taxes?” he had remarked observing that Rs 35.62 is being deducted in taxes on a Rs 100 card.
The case is scheduled to be heard in the apex court in the coming week.
