The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) has asked the government to introduce a stable, long-term tax and compliance system for the technology and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector.
In a statement issued on Saturday, P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said serious investors consistently ask about tax exposure and whether rules will remain stable. He said that the current system forces innovators to spend more time dealing with compliance than building export products.
If rules become consistent and compliance easier, he added, capital will flow into Pakistan.
P@SHA said its “Continuity & Consistency” reform package aims to reduce compliance costs, bring remote digital workers into the formal tax system, and attract local and foreign investment into the tech industry. The proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Finance before the Finance Bill.
The association proposed several changes. These include continuing the 10-year final tax regime on IT and ITeS export income, addressing tax rate discrepancies that affect local payrolls, and creating a system similar to the Roshan Digital Account for quick foreign currency payments.
It also suggested transparent currency conversion, optional retention of foreign funds, straight-through data access for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and rationalising the super tax.
Other suggestions include exempting capital gains tax to improve investor confidence, harmonising provincial sales tax on services, and removing overlapping labour-related levies such as EOBI, SESSI, and the Punjab Workers Welfare Fund. P@SHA recommended either removing these levies or merging them through a digital window designed for knowledge workers.
The association said the proposed steps were not subsidies but efforts to promote digitalisation and simplify administration.
