Punjab Government had decided to impose 19.5% sales tax on internet services three months ago, which was to come into effect this July.
The taxes have officially come into effect as people are seeing an increase in their internet bills after the month of July ended. Some are even wondering if there’s something wrong with their bills.
It was also reported that the students using an internet package under Rs 1500 would be exempted from the taxes.
The new taxes are finally being charged and it has left people wondering about the reasons behind enhanced internet bills.
Comparison
If you looked at your PTCL broadband bill from July 2017, you would have noticed the increase in Service Tax.
Applicable from July, the internet service providers in Punjab have started charging 19.5% tax (as seen in the Service Tax below) as per the decision taken by the government three months ago.
Before Internet Tax (Left) vs. After Internet Tax (Right)
The first PTCL bill is of June, shows a Service tax of Rs. 39. The PTCL bill for the same package from July shows an increase in Service Tax to Rs. 234.
In addition to this, there’s also a minute increase in the withholding tax.
Experts have warned against taxing Pakistan’s booming IT sector in order to spur growth. Measures such as the enhanced internet tax will prove to be disadvantageous to the growth in Pakistan’s internet users, who currently grew by 40 million in the past 3 years.
Many telcos are also expected to increase their mobile data rates if they haven’t done so already.
