Just like IT export businesses, Pakistan also gives tax exemptions to freelancers on their export income. However, an incorrect interpretation of freelancers is hurting the corporate side of the IT export sector and will be very detrimental to the sector if not fixed quickly. Let me explain.

‘Freelancer’ definition

Freelancers by definition are those individuals who take small jobs from multiple clients in a year in the field of technical writing, graphics design, website development, etc. And, they mostly find work through various freelancing marketplaces like Upwork, Fiverr, FlexJobs, etc.

Some even find work through friends and family contacts abroad. But, in all cases, their annual income is usually between $4000-$8,000. These “true” freelancers do not compete with the corporate side of Pakistan’s IT export sector and are not causing any problems.

Remote workers are not freelancers

Freelancers have existed for a long time but a new phenomenon of “remote workers” arose in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic where companies in the US, UK, Western Europe, etc. started hiring full-time employees as remote workers with full benefits like onsite workers. First, they hired within their own countries and then finally internationally.

Pakistan being one of the few English-speaking countries became an attractive destination for these companies to hire remote workers, just like it has been an attractive destination for outsourcing IT services that the corporate IT........

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