Withholding · Tax Year 2026-2027
Mobile Load Tax Calculator
See how much advance income tax and GST/FED are deducted from your prepaid mobile recharge before you get usable balance.
Step by step
How mobile load tax is worked out
Enter your recharge amount
The face value of the top-up.
Confirm both rates
Advance income tax and GST/FED, both editable.
See what's deducted
Each tax broken out separately.
Check your usable balance
What's actually left to spend on calls, SMS or data.
Reading the result
Two different deductions, and only one comes back
When a Rs 100 recharge lands as noticeably less usable balance, two separate things have happened, and they are not the same kind of charge.
- Advance income tax is withheld under the Income Tax Ordinance. Like the deduction on an electricity bill, it is adjustable — it counts against your income tax for the year and is refundable if you file and your liability is lower.
- GST or FED on telecom services is a consumption tax on the service itself. It is not adjustable against your income tax and does not come back.
So the honest answer to "how much of my load do I lose" depends on whether you file a return. A filer eventually recovers the income tax portion. A non-filer who never files loses both.
Why both rates are editable
Telecom is taxed federally and provincially, and the provincial rate on telecommunication services is not uniform across Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Rates also change with each budget. Rather than ship one figure that is wrong for most readers, the calculator takes the rates from you — your own operator's tax breakdown, or the figures shown when you check your balance, are the accurate source.
Where this stops
Operators apply bundle pricing, promotional load and package deductions differently, and some offers are taxed at the point of purchase rather than on the recharge. This models the standard prepaid recharge, not every package.
FAQs
Mobile load tax FAQs
Why is so much of my mobile load deducted?
Prepaid recharges carry both 15% advance income tax (adjustable against your annual tax liability) and GST/FED (currently around 19.5% on telecom services) — together these can take a large share of the face value before you get usable balance.
Is the 15% advance tax refundable?
It is adjustable, not necessarily refundable in cash — filing a tax return lets you credit it against your actual tax liability for the year.
Does this apply to postpaid bills too?
Postpaid bills are subject to withholding tax under a similar principle but calculated on your bill amount — see the Phone Bill Tax Calculator for that.
Why are both rates editable?
GST/FED rates on telecom services have changed periodically — set the current rates from your operator's deduction breakdown for an accurate figure.
Related tools
Check your postpaid bill too
Postpaid phone bills have their own withholding tax treatment.
Open Phone Bill Tax Calculator