SHO gets powers to inspect, and an 18% tax or GST has been proposed for social media and e-commerce websites.
Yesterday, the government of Pakistan announced the proposed budget for FY 2026. People thought that there would be no relief, but at least there won't be another measured or increased tax on emerging markets like e-commerce and freelance online income. However, many people got disappointed with the budget, including salary classes that were promised to get relief. Salary classes were in hope that they would get overall relief; however, the tax cut is only limited to salaried persons who earn not more than 3.2 million per month. Now it has been proposed that people who are earning through YouTube, X accounts, or any platform that enables earning online will be subjected to income tax. It has been proposed to tax e-commerce websites, where the owner of the website will ensure that the taxes are collected through his or her website and deposited on time.
Therefore, the owner will be responsible for the tax collection.
Moreover, now FBR has also empowered SHO to do an inspection on tax advocates along with the chartered accountants so that they ensure that they do not entertain wrong filing of tax returns of their clients. Moreover, now YouTubers' and TikTokers' income has to be reported; otherwise, they will also face penalties, and their remittance inflows earned via these social media platforms will be blocked by the State Bank of Pakistan. Now it is mandatory for e-commerce platform owners to ensure that their users or sellers are registered under the FBR, and if not, then e-commerce platform owners will be responsible if they are not registered. FBR also has proposed cash on delivery to be taxed as well. They have proposed a 1% tax on delivery.
