KARACHI – The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has directed all banks to deduct 13 percent in wake of provincial sales tax on payments made through them for online advertisement services with effect from October 1, 2023.
The tax will be received by the banks on behalf of the provincial government on transfer of payments through any mode including credit cards to any non-resident service providers like Google, Facebook and others.
Reports claimed that banks across the country have started deducting 16 percent additional provisional sales tax on payments being for running ads on Facebook and other online platforms. This is in addition to the 0.8 percent DCC Merchant Fee and 16 percent FED on DCC Merchant Fee.
It means a user have to pay Rs116.93 when he/she spends Rs100 for running the ads in case of local payments. However, the banks charge Rs146.57 when a payment is made to the non-resident company.
An official told local media that the Pakistani government was unable to tax the big tech companies as they are all operating from abroad. However, ByteDance, a Chinese firm, accepts advertising payments in local accounts.
The imposition of the new tax has put more burden on media buying agencies and freelancers, who are already facing heavy taxes from FBR.
FBR increases tax by 400 on credit, debit-card payments to non-residents
