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President of Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) Muhammad Zohaib Khan expressed deep concern that the budget proposals for the IT sector were completely ignored. despite repeated assurances from the government.

Conversely, the salaried class is now burdened with an even higher income tax; which further encourages brain drain of skilled labor from Pakistan"s IT sector. The situation was already alarming regarding taxes and availability of human resources; and P@SHA time and again duly presented facts and relevant suggestions to the government, he added.

Vice President of P@SHA Ali Ihsan lamented the government for signing the death warrant for the IT sector with this budget. which is developed in a vacuum without the involvement of stakeholders. The government should know that the last savior of Pakistan"s economy is the IT industry - be it export, current account maintenance, employment generation or foreign direct investment.Zohaib Khan explained that there is already a shortage of skilled and highly educated workforce in the IT sector. serving various emerging and expanding verticals and niches. The government should give a special package to the staff so that the IT companies can continue the double-digit growth of IT exports, he added.President P@SHA stated that the 2024-2025 The 2018 federal budget did not include P@SHA"s proposals for strong growth in the IT sector.

On the other hand, sharing PKR. 79 billion is mainly for the government"s own projects and IT parks - the IT industry as a whole or IT companies have been neglected, he added.Regarding tax measures, the head of P@SHA emphasized that the burden on IT companies is increasing due to the inability to respond to the challenges arising from the tax systems of remote workers. Ironically, instead of removing loopholes in the existing tax law, additional taxes were imposed on import of equipment and the GST on equipment was unfavorably increased from 5% to 10%.

Mr. Khan emphasized that the budget is in direct contradiction to the claims of the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications (MoITT) to support the investments and exports of the sector - vital issues remain unresolved and neglected; which left the industry vulnerable and facing challenges in a highly competitive international environment.Zohaib Khan stated that the IT industry is seeking clarifications and demanding necessary changes in the Finance Act to ensure massive growth in Pakistan"s IT sector. The current budget does not fulfill the repeated promises of the government. This is a non-consultative budget, he complained.