Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication finalize a budget proposal to reduce withholding tax and increased incentives for freelancers in Pakistan. MOITT stresses to achieve more incentives for IT sector to achieve the $5 billion export target for fiscal year 2022-23.
The exports remittances including telecommunication, computer, and information services during the first ten months (July-April) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 have surged to an all-time high of $2.198 billion growing by 29 percent in comparison to $1.7 billion during the same period in 2020-21.
According to the sources the budget proposals including duties and taxes exemption for the establishment of cloud Infrastructure, 5 percent of annual IT export value to be given to the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) for export promotion, removal of the telecom sector from the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) April 7, 2022, regulation of 100 percent LC margin, reduction of sales tax to zero on laptops and IT equipment, rationalization of Advance Income Tax (AIT) on telecom services to 8 percent and rationalization and harmonization of Federal and Provincial Services Tax rates on telecom services to facilitate the IT sector are likely to be part of the agenda.
