Technology
Bangladesh grants additional tax breaks to the IT industry, but Pakistan does the reverse.
According to sources, Bangladesh has exempted nine more ICT services from taxation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), including cloud services, e-learning platforms, mobile applications, system link, e-book platforms, app developers, and freelancers. It might explain why Bangladesh, a country that was formed considerably later than Pakistan, appears to have surpassed Pakistan. It has $41 billion in foreign exchange reserves, compared to $20 billion in Pakistan, and a GDP growth rate of 7.9 percent, compared to 1.5 percent in Pakistan.
Bangladesh gives further tax exemptions to IT industry in the upcoming budget, among many other tax cuts for local industry.
— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) June 2, 2021
Pakistan seems fixated on short term tax collection targets, rather than long-term development of the industry. https://t.co/hTi7BntelA
Prime Minister Imran Khan authorized the launch of the Money Bill in the National Assembly earlier this year, which would remove over 80 income tax exemptions. ACCORDING TO REPORTS, the FBR then began identifying people and firms who took advantage of the tax exemptions/concessions given, as part of a bigger crackdown in which 70,000 persons would be sent show-cause notices.
The Pakistani IT industry has often urged the government to provide facilities to the business and warned that moves to revoke exemptions would stymie its growth, but to no avail.
Bangladesh's progressive attitude toward its IT business may be one of the reasons it has been dubbed a "standout regional star." According to Bloomberg, Bangladesh's neighbors, especially India and Pakistan, can learn a lot from its success. In 1971, Pakistan was 70% richer than Bangladesh; today, Bangladesh is 45 percent richer than Pakistan, according to a new damning analysis by the media behemoth.
