Withholding Tax on Telecom Services Up by 1.5 %

I am sure you must have heard of recent presidential ordinances, according to which withholding tax was increased by 1.5 percent, to be applicable on all services including Telecom.

Based on this ordinance, all prepaid cards and postpaid bills will be charged 11.5 percent as withholding taxes (charges deducted on card reloads)

  • Deduction on Card Load = 11.5 % Withholding Tax + 5% Services Charges = Rs. 16.5

After this increase in withholding tax, total taxes on telecom services have reached to 31 percent. Following is the complete detail of taxes on Telecom services:

  • Withholding Tax: 11.5 Percent
  • Federal Excide Duty: 19.5 Percent
  • Total Taxes: 31 percent

Just to add to the misery, all cellular companies are charging 5 percent of the credit as services charges. After these charges, total money deducted from cellular services:

  • Taxes: 31 Percent
  • Service Charges: 5 Percent (for prepaid only)
  • Total Deduction: 36 percent

In simple words, Rs. 36 will be deducted out of every Rs. 100 card load.

This is the revenge (in true spirit) taken from the people of Pakistan by the Democracy.

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • I am already being charged heavily on my post paid indigo connection – I only use my cell for attending alls or sms when important – i am nt into sms fwsd even then they charge a lot of taxes and gprs – chich i do ot use on my handset.

    • mobilink is one any company who is NOT charging GST 19.5% on GPRS
      u can variety on u indigo bill

      • Zong is also not charging 19.5% tax on postpaid and prepaid.
        All data service are GST free.

  • “This is the revenge (in true spirit) taken from the people of Pakistan by the Democracy.”

    Really?

    • ni tay hooor tere nicker vey laa lain gay tay fair tainu pata chalay ga… Really !!! aida tu angraizzz

        • yar admin bahi mine koi galat bat tu ni kee.. waisey mujhay isi bat ka daar tha.. eshi lyea bhai key nicker pay hath dala hai izzat pay ni :P

  • FED is not deducted on balance load, it is charged on service, the amount that will be deducted on every Rs.100 recharge is Rs 16.5 calculated as,

    Withholding Tax: 11.5%
    Service Charges: 5 % (for prepaid only)
    making total of 16.5% so (Rs 100*16.5%)=Rs 16.5

    • to kia asad bhai aap card call karnay ke liye nahin charge kartay sirf ghareeb telcos ko faida dainay ke liye card load kartain hain.

      mera bhai card dalo gay to call bhi to karro gay. akhir mein consumer ko kia bachta ha woh daikhna haina, problem FED WHT ka nahin …. aap samajh to gai hi hongay

      • Hey bro u didn’t get my point.and let me clear i m also not in favor of increased taxes :). my point was that when u load balance of Rs.100 through scratch card, tax of Rs 16.5 will be deducted so u will get balance of Rs 83.5 and now the FED Will be apply on these Rs 83.5 @ 19.5% which equal Rs 16.2825 so the total tax u r paying on Rs 100 balance is Rs. 16.5+16.2825 = 32.7825 or 32.7825% .

  • Chalo dosto sub choro Illaqa Gair chaloo… whan Charas, Ganjha, Heroin sell kertay hain … no taxes only profit hi profit… aaaahaaaaaa mei pagall hun… :D

    they are freakin me out… $#%^&**(

  • yar mujhay aesa kyun lag raha hai keh kisi nay bhot bhari cheez uthaa ker mere sir tay maaaar theevi haaa ???? :D

  • @asad
    Fed is applicable even if its easy load.

    yar why do you guys call it a democracy, the knuckle head president waits for the parliament session to end so that son of a gun issues ordinance in the midnight he is a dictator who licks Obama’s balls while taking dictation from him.

  • perhaps you guys dint notice the said ordinance was issued on tuesday night and on the wednesday raymond davis was released, there was no other news on media except of that release, what a perfect timings to promulgate an ordinance, which also proves that its not a coincidence the govt already had info about the upcoming result of davis case.

  • First of all let me clear that I am not the above Asad :p.
    Secondly I would advise you to check international market. we are already too cheap due to toughest compitition even if we consider the percapita income as well. I think even roaming charges should also be applied afterall we have much bigger challenges so we must sacrifice our luxuries to accumulate money for some betterment. Please be realistic & don’t always critisize the only well groomed industry of pakistan. I know many friends in Canada, US & Sweden who request me to call as their call charges are far higher than us & have to pay roaming also.

    P.S: I’m not from govt or cellular industry. :)

    • Hey Duplicate! :p (Asad)
      We are not criticizing the Telecom Industry. We are criticizing the extra taxes that’s going to kill their profits and in turn kill the industry and us the consumers and your friends who will tell you to call them and you won’t be able to.. Tragic! :p

      • Yes thats what I said k we should comprise the luxuries if it could help the dying economy. I will still be happy if I can’t call my friends as they can’t do… Afterall why in such a poor country where in terms of area we at 6th in the world & in terms of income, we are 139th… so do we have the space to accomodate these luxuries that even first world country people can only dream????????????????????

        • I do not see your point of comparing us with first-world countries. They are even cheeper and they pay their taxes in their currencies. Say for example, In the United States, the telecom is not that expencive. they just pay fourty to fifty dollars and that’s fine with them. IN Pakistan, we pay more than we use. If your salary is five thousand, would you be having enough money to payoff your taxes? I don’t talk about Canadians, but Americans all enjoy these telecommunications almost free. am I write, Aamir? doesn’t this comparison look absurd? Wait a minute. We don’t talk about Americans. What do you think about indians?

  • One thing which i would like to cerrect here is that the total taxes are 27.5% before the change to 15% and 28.5% after the change. Accountants would understand this:-)..because the total card value to say PKR 100 includes all these taxes. for your understanding the current structure would be;

    Card value 100
    After deducting Income Tax @10% 100/1.1 90.91
    After deducting FED @ 19.5% 90.91/1.195 76.08
    After Service Charges @ 5% 76.08/1.05 72.46

    So out of PKR 100, the subscriber will get 72.46, so the effective tax rate would be approx 28%

    Thanks

    • Withholding tax is deducted on Air Time + FED + Service charges.

      In other words, tax deduction will be as following:

      – Rs. 100 Card
      – After Deduction of withholding tax (@ 11.5 percent on Rs. 100) = 100 – 11.5 = Rs. 88.5
      – After Service Charge Deduction (@ 5 percent on Rs. 100) = 88.5 – 5 = Rs. 83.5

      Now you are left with Rs. 83.5 to make calls.

      For further explanation check this: https://propakistani.pk/2011/01/26/cellular-subscribers-pay-30-taxes-but-why-lte/

      • What about the FED on service charges?

        On rs. 5, you would be charged Rs. .98. Leaving Rs. 82.48 to make calls.

        now on remainning Rs. 82.48 you will also have to pay rs. 16.08 in shape of FED.

        so, 82.48 -16.08 =66.40.

  • Reading the above all replies… I must say we deserve to be f***** by Davis & company….
    We are ready for voilance but never ever ready to sacrifice over luxuries aur wo b udhar k paison ki….
    Always ready to critisize others & blame others for our own lazinesses but can’t even detect our own blunders… confession & cure is a much later stage.
    We are ready to potest in a voilent manner & destroy our own properties but can’t stop using Facebook. Salute to America for fighting for their citizen as Davis did all for his country & not due to personel enmity & his nation stoodup for him.
    Shame on us as a Nation!!!

    • couldn’t agree more….
      a big “CHAY” nation is what we are…….

      oh sorry i called us a NATION…..

      my apologies….

      • Talha are we nation? we are hajoom not nation

        If you want to see nation look at Japanese ………….

        • Japanese ny bhe baray buray din dekhay hain aur tab qaum banay hain…hum bhe ban he jaen gy bantay bantay..agar sab politicians mar gaey jaldi jaldi qaum ko taqseem dar taqseem kar dia sab ny.

          • @ mohsin
            i mistakenly called ourselves a nation …..
            check my comment again…..

  • @asad

    ameen!
    teeth.com.pk/blog/2008/08/17/asif-zardaris-list-of-local-international-wealth

    still he needs jahaiz :p

  • lets face it guys…. we are coward, soulless,pathetic and sissy……
    we don’t have balls to protest against that $@#^%$#$ president of ours.

    and events like these will continue to occur in future,and people like us will continue our discussion in places like these…
    after yesterday….i feel ashamed of myself…
    i don’t know kae yae politicians kis darjay kae be-gairat hain jo aram sae soojaatay hain……
    KKB….:S

  • صدر زرداری زندباد یہ تو کچھ بھی نہیں جناب آگے آگے دیکھو ھوتا ھے کیا

  • 52 cars, including 23 Mercedes when our dearest President cum Vicroy of Pakistan was moving, I witnessed it myself. Humiliation by so called security agencies of the common man to leave roads before this “VIP” movement was in addition to the pain every poor common Pakistani was feeling at that time.

    But its time to sleep guys, no facebook revolution “conspiracies” against a “democratic” government please.

  • WHT has been increased from 10% to 11.5% as i have confirmed and received a text msg from Ufone.

  • The salaried persons are paying more than 50% of their salaries in the shape of taxes back to Govt.

    Poor People – Rich Govt !

    Allah is koum per apna karam karay & aour is Govt ko tabah-o-barbaad karay (Aameen)

      • @Aizaz, i think u are employee of Telenor, anyhow why Telenor is not making such kind of AD in Norway, even -ve things and points are much more than Pakistan. Telenor always run compaign inwhich they just give us messege that we Pakistani are just sick and unmannered people. Kabhi karo mumkin show or kabhi khamoshi ka boycot? whats the hell?

  • Why Pakistan has not caught the Middle East’s revolution fever

    Few countries today are facing as many crippling crises as Pakistan. Some are identical to the problems that sparked revolutions and uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa: government corruption, unemployment, poverty and a floundering economy. But Pakistan has not caught the Middle East’s revolution fever.
    Here are four reasons why:

    1. Pakistan had its own version of a revolution in 2007. That’s when a largely middle-class movement, fed up with former President Pervez Musharraf’s military rule and failure to crack down on extremists, led an uprising against the regime. A civilian government came into power after the 2008 parliamentary elections that were widely viewed as free and fair. A few months later, Musharraf resigned as president and left the country.

    2. Pakistanis have ample opportunities to let off steam and voice dissent through a remarkably free and vibrant press and political system. In Pakistan, trashing politicians is national sport that plays out daily on nearly two dozen 24-hour news channels. The only institution that is clearly immune to public criticism is the military and Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agencies. The relative freedom of expression in Pakistan is rare for an Islamic state, and it allows the public and opposition factions to vent their fury through public dissent instead of resorting to anti-government uprisings.

    3. Pakistani culture is made up of at least six different ethnicities: Punjabi, Pashtun, Sindhi, Baluch, Muhajir and Kashmiri. Each has its own distinct culture and language. This diverse mix of ethnicities makes it difficult for Pakistanis to unite behind a single cause.

    4. Pakistanis have many perceived enemies, so it’s often hard to decide whom to rise up against. Yes, the government in Islamabad is perceived as weak and corrupt, but many Pakistanis also view the U.S., Islamist extremists and India as its enemies, too. On any given week in Pakistan, you can find public protests against any one of these perceived enemies. Having too many foes reduces the intensity and focus of dissent, which are often prerequisites for an uprising.
    There’s no sign of revolution coming to Pakistan, but this is still a country in a crucial region that desperately needs help and reform to address the most basic needs of its people. Change could come with the democratic mechanisms that are already in place there, but that will take a commitment from all institutions – including the powerful military – along with support from the international community and lots of patience.

  • this is nida here aabe tak tu 10% he withholding cut raha ha main nay aaj 2 dafa top up karwya ha warid per aur help line per cal be ki wo kahtain han aae koi be update hamaray apss nahe ha aur 10% he charge ho raha ha abe tak

    • Nida, we have confirmed from Telenor, Ufone and Mobilink. Warid guys need to update them, but this increment is in place for sure

  • I’ve read few comments saying that their operator is not charging FED or Witholding tax, well let me tell you something. these duties or taxes are not discretionary upon operato’s will these are govt levies and every operator is bind to pay either through collection from subscriber to their services or out of their own pockets, now in my opinion none of the operators in pakistan is generous enough to pay out of their own pockets

  • From waridtel just received this msg:

    Dear Customer, Due to 15% flood surcharge levied by Govt. of Pakistan, withholding tax has been revised from 10% to 11.5%, applicable from 15 Mar till 30 Jun,11

  • o zardari ____ _____ ______ tujhy to upar ja k pochain gy hum log ek ek rupay ka hisab dena pary ga tujhy…….chorain gy nai tum koooooo ulta latkain gy…..inshaALLAH

    [Comment Edited]

  • Dear customer! if you cannot leave your sweet home to protest against the ruling dacoits then you deserved to be pissed off.

  • Rs(u recharge)*16.5rs tax deduction-actual balance
    10 16.500% 1.65 8.35
    11 16.500% 1.815 9.185
    12 16.500% 1.98 10.02
    13 16.500% 2.145 10.855
    14 16.500% 2.31 11.69
    15 16.500% 2.475 12.525
    16 16.500% 2.64 13.36
    17 16.500% 2.805 14.195
    18 16.500% 2.97 15.03
    19 16.500% 3.135 15.865
    20 16.500% 3.3 16.7
    21 16.500% 3.465 17.535
    22 16.500% 3.63 18.37
    23 16.500% 3.795 19.205
    24 16.500% 3.96 20.04
    25 16.500% 4.125 20.875
    27 16.500% 4.455 22.545
    28 16.500% 4.62 23.38
    29 16.500% 4.785 24.215
    30 16.500% 4.95 25.05
    31 16.500% 5.115 25.885
    32 16.500% 5.28 26.72
    33 16.500% 5.445 27.555
    34 16.500% 5.61 28.39
    35 16.500% 5.775 29.225
    36 16.500% 5.94 30.06
    37 16.500% 6.105 30.895
    38 16.500% 6.27 31.73
    39 16.500% 6.435 32.565
    40 16.500% 6.6 33.4
    41 16.500% 6.765 34.235
    42 16.500% 6.93 35.07
    43 16.500% 7.095 35.905
    44 16.500% 7.26 36.74
    45 16.500% 7.425 37.575
    46 16.500% 7.59 38.41
    47 16.500% 7.755 39.245
    48 16.500% 7.92 40.08
    49 16.500% 8.085 40.915
    50 16.500% 8.25 41.75
    51 16.500% 8.415 42.585
    52 16.500% 8.58 43.42
    53 16.500% 8.745 44.255
    54 16.500% 8.91 45.09
    55 16.500% 9.075 45.925
    56 16.500% 9.24 46.76
    57 16.500% 9.405 47.595
    58 16.500% 9.57 48.43
    59 16.500% 9.735 49.265
    60 16.500% 9.9 50.1
    61 16.500% 10.065 50.935
    62 16.500% 10.23 51.77
    63 16.500% 10.395 52.605
    64 16.500% 10.56 53.44
    65 16.500% 10.725 54.275
    66 16.500% 10.89 55.11
    67 16.500% 11.055 55.945
    68 16.500% 11.22 56.78
    69 16.500% 11.385 57.615
    70 16.500% 11.55 58.45
    71 16.500% 11.715 59.285
    72 16.500% 11.88 60.12
    73 16.500% 12.045 60.955
    74 16.500% 12.21 61.79
    75 16.500% 12.375 62.625
    76 16.500% 12.54 63.46
    77 16.500% 12.705 64.295
    78 16.500% 12.87 65.13
    79 16.500% 13.035 65.965
    80 16.500% 13.2 66.8
    81 16.500% 13.365 67.635
    82 16.500% 13.53 68.47
    83 16.500% 13.695 69.305
    84 16.500% 13.86 70.14
    85 16.500% 14.025 70.975
    86 16.500% 14.19 71.81
    87 16.500% 14.355 72.645
    88 16.500% 14.52 73.48
    89 16.500% 14.685 74.315
    90 16.500% 14.85 75.15
    91 16.500% 15.015 75.985
    92 16.500% 15.18 76.82
    93 16.500% 15.345 77.655
    94 16.500% 15.51 78.49
    95 16.500% 15.675 79.325
    96 16.500% 15.84 80.16
    97 16.500% 16.005 80.995
    98 16.500% 16.17 81.83
    99 16.500% 16.335 82.665
    100 16.500% 16.5 83.5

  • Brothers n sister the calculation of tax in the article is not correct actually the FED is not charge on the actual amount i.e for e.g Rs. 100 on A Rs.100 card rather it is charged on the written down value of card.
    Although i believe that its quite unfair to the people but think the same by placing your self in the shoes of Govt. Primarily we are liable to pay huge debts and their enormous interest cost, secondly after the flood our economy needs huge injections of investment including in Public sector, thirdly the above mentioned TAX is a form of indirect TAX, and any person who has knowledge of Taxation would agree that collection of Tax through Indirect method is always a better way as is unavoidable……….

  • This is the worst government ever in Pakistan. May Allh destroy this government and all responsible people.

  • its rubbish government, the inflation increase day by day,, how can middle class survive???????????

    frome whom we aske this question????

    & who is responsible ?????


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