Who will bear the brunt of phone call tax?

LAHORE: (Web Desk) Who will bear the brunt of Rs0.75 tax on mobile phone calls that exceed 5 minutes?

According to tax experts government has apparently imposed this tax on well-off people who usually care less about the duration of their mobile phone calls but the ground reality is something else.

Most people having smartphones normally use WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype, or other free audio messaging, calling apps and services which means people without smartphones will probably make longer mobile phone calls. It goes without saying that people who don’t have smart phones are have nots. Most of these people include daily wagers, migrant workers and low-rank govt and private employees.

Another problem is worth-mentioning here. There are still many areas where the availability of high-speed internet is either unavailabe or not properly available. People of these areas, despite having smart phones, can’t make WhatsApp calls though half of the country’s 183 million active cellular subscribers use mobile internet and broadband services.

On these grounds experts suggest the financial planners of this government to go to alternative venues to collect tax.