• The new regime includes 18pc GST, additional taxes for non -filters, mandatory buyers’ data reports by banks and intermediaries
• Online vendors and messaging services waiting for clarity about the future of their businesses
Islamabad: confusion and fear prevail not only among local and international electronic commerce platforms regarding the imposition of new fiscal regimes with the advent of fiscal year 2025-26, but also among sellers and messaging services, which expect clarity about the future of their businesses.
The Federal Income Board (FBR) has compiled a list of eight key electronic commerce platforms that provide tangible and intangible elements, including music, movies and software.
The largest sales platform was Facebook, with transactions worth more than RS12.31bn. Others include Apple/Tunes, Google, Aliexpress, Netflix, Temu and Spotify, while the largest transactions are carried out in the category of others.
The total number of transactions of these international and local online platforms, such as Daraz, Olx, Zameen and Pakwheels, exceeds RS317.78bn.
The Government has added a new chapter to the Income Tax regime, and taxes on sales tax and other encumbrances have been imposed.
The general situation has led to confusion between the main local and international platforms with respect to the tax collection mechanism.
By the way, international electronic commerce platforms have requested that their local partners clarify the tax collection mechanism in Pakistan, as of July 1.
“Our client has responsible for investigating the result and talking with several messaging companies to determine the impact on the fees and the tax submission mechanism,” said a senior executive of a public relations company.
Due to the lack of clarity about the situation, neither he nor any executive of Pakistani electronic commerce platforms were willing to reveal their identity; However, an Executive said that even the Updated Income Tax Law 2025 had not risen to the FBR website.
One of the key interested parties, the Pakistan Electronic Commerce Association (PEA), has announced a protest against the new tax regime.
Its president Omer Mubeen warned that the new fiscal measures would reduce the profit margins and give an additional load to the clients.
He added that there are increasing concerns about the hard policy of electronic trade taxes; The PEA, along with other relevant stakeholders, including the Pakistan Chain Association (CAP), will continue to protest the movement on social networks and write letters to the interested authorities.
While the new laws were facilitative for businessmen, confusion and lack of knowledge have created panic among many.
Messaging companies have also begun to advise electronic commerce companies and individual vendors that complete their tax records to continue taking advantage of delivery services.
A local Islamabad seller declared that electronic commerce was still in its early stages of the country. Instead of supporting the industry, the government was making it difficult for businessmen to do business.
Meanwhile, responding to the consultation, a senior FBR official said that the process would materialize after Ashura, which falls on Sunday, and most of the activities in this regard will begin from Monday.
He added that there were three main objectives of the new tax regime on electronic commerce: business registration, improving tax collection and processing of the process for future regulations.
“There is also the need to regulate electronic commerce for the protection of buyers of fraud or deception by any unknown seller and that is not possible without the registration of the companies,” added the FBR official.
According to the new regime, without proper registration, messaging companies and online markets will not be authorized to process or send such orders.
Similar to the physical retail media, a general general sales tax (GST) of 18PC has been imposed on all goods and services bought online, while additional taxes apply to buyers who are not filters and platforms as well.
However, banks and online payment intermediaries must maintain buyers records for quarterly presentation. The new tax regime also imposes sanctions on intermediaries for not collecting due taxes or submitting the necessary documents before the FBR.
Posted in Dawn, July 6, 2025
