Govt. plans to impose higher taxes on foreign content

The government of Pakistan plans to impose higher taxes on foreign content!

The development was shared by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday.

The federal minister stated that the government plans to impose higher taxes on foreign content as the local film and drama industry had suffered due to it.

He was addressing a press conference after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Information Ministry, Pakistan Television, and the Arts Council of Pakistan regarding the National Entertainment Awards.

Fawad Chaudhry said that the government had finalized a new film policy through which it aims to incentivize the industry.

He added that in the new policy, the government had proposed the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) charge higher tax if a channel is airing foreign dramas so that they should not be cheaper than local ones.

“Our television channels have made it a norm to import foreign dramas, which is comparatively cheaper than the local ones, and as a result, our local dramas have suffered a huge blow,” he said.

“Foreign actors are being hired for advertisements; our actors are remaining unemployed — and without any reason — foreign actors are being hired,” he added.