The government has decided to constitute a high-powered dispute resolution committee to resolve the issue of tax notices issued to the IT companies and resolution of outstanding tax-related matters of the IT sector.
Sources told Propakistani that the decision has been taken during the last meeting of the Ministry of Information Technology which was attended by the Finance Minister and Federal Minister for IT and Telecom for reviewing proposals for increasing IT export remittances in the country. The meeting reviewed the foreign exchange regime for the IT companies.
The meeting decided that the definition of the IT and IT-enabled services would be broadened. The revision and expansion of the definition of the IT/ITES sector would be done after seeking feedback from the IT sector. The new definition of IT and IT-enabled services has been drafted by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in light of feedback from the Pakistan Software House Association. The meeting also decided that a high-powered dispute resolution committee would be constituted. The committee would comprise the Federal Board of Revenue, MOIT, PSEB, and PASHA.
The proposed definition of the IT & IT-enabled Services: Information Technology Services (IT Services) and Information Technology Services (IT-enabled Services) include but are not limited to IT consulting, software consulting, software design, software development, software product licensing, software customization, software implementation, quality assurance & testing, software support and maintenance, IT assessment and roadmap development, system support, system assembly, system integration, system designing and architecture, system analysis, system development, system operation, system maintenance, system up-gradation and modification, data warehousing or management, data storage services, data entry operations. data processing, data mining, data analytics. database management, online database access and retrieval, data migration or transfer, disaster recovery planning and management, business continuity planning and management, system security or protection, cyber security, internet security, remote monitoring, web designing, Ul/UX designing, Ul/UX optimization, web development, web hosting, network designing, services relating to enterprise resource planning or management. cloud provisioning and development, cloud computing services. Software as a Service (SaaS) subscriptions, Infrastructure as a Service (laaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), mobile or smartphones applications design and development, game design and development, animation design and development, graphics designing, video and image editing, digitization services, engineering design, and audit services, geographic information system, IT equipment maintenance and repair, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), inbound and outbound call center or contact center services, IT managed services, medical transcription, legal transcription, translation services, administrative and back-office support services, accounting, and payroll services, human resource management, and support services. financial back-office operations and services, remote customer services using email/chat/video/social media, telemedicine, insurance claim processing, data research services, data standardization, content development services, content modernization, blogging, online digital marketing and lead generation, social media marketing, online advertising, eCommerce digital marketing services, eCommerce IT support services, search engine optimization, data search integration, and analysis. remote education and e-learning services, computer training, IT-centric research and development, and locally produced television programs.
