Internet community of Pakistan has rejected the sales tax imposed by Punjab Government and strongly condemned this act. Majority of digital publishers and bloggers of Pakistan have black out their pages as a protest against internet sales tax. Representatives of different IT organizations, digital publishers, bloggers and other stakeholders of internet community in Pakistan have gathered in Lahore to adopt a strategy against this act. All of them have strongly rejected the sales tax imposed on the internet and requested the government to withdraw this in the favour of freedom of expression, in Pakistan.
The Government of Punjab have imposed 19.5% General Sales Tax on all kind of internet services including DSL, 3G, 4G, Fiber and EVDO, through notification NO SO(TAX)1-1/2014-15 (Vol-I). Both the individual and corporate users will have to pay 19.5 % GST on the monthly bill of 1500 Rupees or above. This tax will be also imposed on 2 megabytes per second connections or more than this.
Disappointed to see the internet Tax being imposed in Punjab, i hope @CMShehbaz listens in
— Usman Bashir 🇵🇸 (@gripusa) June 9, 2015
Internet services providers and telecom companies in Pakistan have also rejected this act by saying that the already imposed tax on telecom industry is one of the highest in the world. They have also said that this tax will affect the foreign investment in the country in IT sector and will definitely cause damage to the economy of Pakistan.
Let's keep Punjab ignorant : #BilawalGiftsFreeWifiToKarachi while Roshan Punjab's govt slaps 19.5% tax on mobile internet usage.
— Hina Mahar Nadeem (@HinaMaharN) June 5, 2015
Only14%Pakistanis have internet access low cost devices, Punjab Govt adds more tax on mobile internet.#Budget2015 pic.twitter.com/uJjcaHI1o5
— Mr.Pakistani (@Khan_tiger00) June 5, 2015