Move to impose 15 percent GST on software export opposed

Commenting on the Central Board of Revenue's reported move to impose 15 percent GST on software exports, the Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and member Standing Committee on Finance, Senator Nisar Ahmed Memon said he would oppose any such decision.
Addressing the Faculty members and students during a three-hour visit to Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology here, he said that Pakistan was made to suffer in the field of IT in the 70s when a ban was imposed on import of computers and now the same thing would be repeated through reported imposition of GST on software exports.
He said he would ask the CBR to refrain from taking any such decision which may prove fatal to IT industry. He pointed out that India taxed its IT products last year, but Pakistan should not follow Indian's example on two counts - one its exports ran into multi-billion dollars and secondly, competitiveness, while Pakistan does not have any of the two.
In Pakistan's IT policy, he said the export target had been kept at multi-billion dollars while the State Bank report said that Pakistan's software exports stood at 50 million dollars while unofficial statistics keep it at 500 million dollars ie half a billion dollars which is still far behind the multi-billion dollars target.
If CBR imposes GST, the target, whatever achieved todate, will go down, he cautioned.
He referred to a survey carried out by a Californian newspaper "Commerce Time" which, he said, reported that imposition of tax by Indians had brought Indian software exports down. In its report, the paper said that it would provide an opportunity to Pakistan to capture a share of export market. But, if the news about imposition of GST by the CBR is true, then it will have adverse affect, Nisar Memon observed.
Nisar Memon, while dilating upon Pakistan's future in IT sector, called for effective human resource and infrastructure development with emphasis on research and development and services.
He opined that if efficient services are not provided, effects of research and development will be nullified.
"IT is based on Research and Development but more important is how the services are offered", he pointed out.
Nisar Memon told the students that he had been in the field of IT for almost 30 years and had some knowledge about it, but they were lucky to have latest knowledge about IT in just 3-4 years.