Hammad Azhar clarifies FED levy on internet data usage

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar has clarified regarding the imposition of federal excise duty (FED) on internet data usage, saying that Prime Minister Imran Khan and cabinet did not approve the levy, ARY News reported on Friday.

Hammad Azhar said in a Twitter message that PM Khan and the federal cabinet did not approve the FED levy on internet data usage. He added that it will not be included in the final draft of the Finance Bill (budget) that is placed before the parliament for approval.

The PM and Cabinet did not approve the FED levy on internet data usage. It will not be included in the final draft of the Finance Bill (budget) that is placed before parliament for approval.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) June 11, 2021

Earlier, it was learnt that FED has been imposed on over three-minute mobile phone calls, internet data and SMS in the budget for the new fiscal year. It added a nominal tax will be imposed on a large portion of the population under the federal excise tax (FED).

Meanwhile, the federal government reduced the withholding tax rate for mobile services from 12 per cent to 10 per cent in the budget 2021-22.

The government decided to reduce the financial burden on the common citizen by cutting the WHT rate for mobile services. It has been suggested to implement the gradual deduction of WHT.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin unveiled the federal budget 2021-22 in the National Assembly (NA) today.

Read: FY2021-22: Rs8.5tr federal budget announced with historic PSDP allocation

Sharing the achievements of the incumbent government, Shaukat Tarin during the budget speech said that tax collections saw an 18 per cent increase last year as the country crosses the limit of Rs4000 tax collection. “We have made 75 per cent more tax refunds,” he said.

With an increase of 36.4 per cent, the federal government has proposed Rs900 billion for the development budget for the fiscal year 2021-22.

The federal government has projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate at 4.8 per cent for the upcoming fiscal year 2021-22.