Actor Faysal Quraishi is worried that a proposal to withdraw advance taxes — an amount of income tax that is paid much in advance, rather than a lump-sum payment at the year-end — on payments for foreign TV shows and advertisements will end up hurting Pakistan’s domestic entertainment industry.
In a video posted on his Instagram account on Saturday, the actor warned the move would result in local artists, technical crew and other people associated with filming losing their jobs.
He started by recognising that the government was working to promote filmmaking in Pakistan, “Recently, we’ve all been very happy the way the Punjab government, the Sindh government, the federal government have been supporting our film industry, the way they’ve been making investments and lending support.”
“But something came up in the budget that has left us shocked and worried… On one hand, you’re talking about supporting the industry; on the other, there’s talk of removing taxes from international projects,” the actor said.
He said the “confusion” from the authorities had left many people scratching their heads.
