Govt confirms tax on phone calls longer than five minutes

The federal government has imposed a tax of 75 paisas on phone calls that exceed the duration of five minutes.

This was announced by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin while concluding the budget discussion in the National Assembly on Friday.

Tarin said talking over the cellphone for more than five minutes will be taxed at 75 paisas, but there will be no tax on an SMS.

Tarin added that the government will take action against tax defaulters with the help of third party. “Arrest will be made after legal formalities.”

As per reports, the government has decided to decrease the taxes on 1000cc vehicles while tax imposed on milk and other items has also been fixed at 10 per cent, which was earlier proposed at 17pc.

The finance minister clarified that the federal government has not proposed any tax on flour or other items.

Property tax has been reduced to 20 per cent from the earlier proposal of 35 per cent.

Mentioning the government’s initiatives in the housing sector, Shaukat Tarin said now every citizen can avail bank loan to purchase or construct a house. Rs3 billion have been fixed for the payment of subsidies being offered by the government on housing loans, he added.

For Ehsaas Programme, the finance minister said Rs260 billion have been proposed for the financial grants in the upcoming financial year 2021-22.