Telecom operator faces Rs22bn tax after FBR ruling on tower deal

June 12, 2025 (MLN): The telecom operator is now liable to pay approximately Rs22 billion ($78 million) in taxes on the gain from its transaction.

This follows a ruling that upholds the powers and jurisdiction of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to assess tax liability on a high-value intra-group transaction involving the transfer of the telecom operator’s tower assets.

The ruling, delivered in a tax reference filed by a major telecom operator, was in favor of the revenue and was issued by a Division Bench of the Islamabad High Court, led by Justice Babar Sattar, as per the press release issued.

The landmark case focused on a 2018 internal asset reorganization, where the Telecom Operator transferred its nationwide tower infrastructure to its wholly owned subsidiary.

The disposal of these assets for Rs98.5bn ($940m) by the Telecom Operator was recorded in its financial statements as an accounting gain of approximately Rs75.9bn.

However, the Telecom Operator contended that the transaction was not taxable because the asset was disposed of to its wholly owned subsidiary, according to section 97(1) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 (ITO) concerning intra-group transfers.

The High Court dismissed the petitioner’s argument, stating that the provision permits a tax-neutral event only if all conditions of section 97 of the ITO are met.

This includes ensuring that the written-down value of the transferred asset remains unchanged in the hands of the transferee compared to the transferor, meaning the transaction should not generate any economic value leading to taxable income.

The Court determined that the transaction was conducted at a fair market value of $940m, accepted by the petitioner as consideration, thereby violating section 97 of the ITO.

Consequently, the Court concluded that the gain from the transaction was clearly a taxable event since nothing remained to defer taxation to a later date.

Additionally, the Court ruled that the Commissioner had the authority to consider accounting income when evaluating taxable income.

This remarkable success of the FBR on the judicial front is another step toward the accomplishment of the vision of the Prime Minister for expeditious liquidation of state revenue involved in the cases pending before the various appellate fora.

Under the guidance of Rashid Mehmood, Chairman, FBR, Legal Wing of the FBR, headed by Mir Badshah Khan Wazir, Member (Legal IR), in association with the Director General (Law) has already taken a number of initiatives to actively pursue the pending cases by providing proper assistance to the courts.

These collective efforts have resulted in the resolution of a large number of pending tax disputes at various legal fora involving revenue in billions of rupees.

Asma Hamid, ASC, and Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan (DG Law) effectively represented the Federal Board of Revenue in this case.

While dismissing another petition of the same telecom operator filed against a show cause notice issued under the Federal Excise Act, 2005, the court imposed a cost of Rs100,000 upon the petitioner to be paid to the Deputy Commissioner-IR, LTO, Islamabad within four weeks.