Punjab government has officially decided to make all sorts of the Internet, 3G, 4G, DSL or any other form of internet, more expensive by imposing a big 19.5 percent sales tax, we have checked.
Punjab Government Imposed 19.5% Taxes on the Internet Once Again
While Dr Ayesha Bukhsh, Finance Minister for Punjab, didn’t mention this new tax in her budget speech, we can confirm you that all sorts of the tax imposed on the internet in Punjab at a flat sales tax rate of 19.5%
Another 14% tax already deducted for Internet services across Pakistan. These new taxes will take the entire taxes on Internet to around 35 percent or one-third of the total price.
“Students in Punjab, who will use the Internet below Rs. 1,500 per month, are exempted from this newly imposed sales tax.”
“Officials of mobile phone companies confirmed the news about the new tax and said that this is against government’s digital Pakistan ambitions.”, reported by ProPakistani
New taxes will be applicable from July 1st, 2017. With this, Pakistan has become one of only a few countries where tax is imposed on the Internet.
It’s worth mentioning that Punjab imposed taxes in 2014, but they had withdrawn those taxes after criticism.
It won’t be out of place to mention here that Pakistan grew with 40 million new Internet users during past three years. It is feared that this new tax will put caps on growth rates and will badly impact country’s economy.
Punjab houses over 50 percent population of Pakistan and 56 percent of Pakistan’s Internet users live in the province.
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