Mobile phones import duty revised to reduce tax on ordinary sets
Mobile phones valuing up to $30 will now be charged at a flat rate of Rs180.
(Web Desk) – The regulatory duty on import of mobile phones has been restructured in flat rates for six different slabs according to import value of mobile phones for lowering tax on ordinary mobiles as compared to expensive phones.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) unveiled the new duty list on Monday and understanding it would be important for anyone who is planning to buy or import a new mobile phone.
Under the new duty structure, the tax on a mobile phone may have reduced or increased in a following way:
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Mobile phones valuing up to $30 will now be charged at a flat rate of Rs180 per set as against the earlier Rs250.
In another example, for a Rs25,000 mobile phone, you will now pay Rs2,700 in duty. This duty is almost half of (Rs5,000) what you had to pay for the same phone in the previous tax structure.
Mobile phones having an import value between $30 and $100 will be charged at the rate of Rs1,800 per set, while the regulatory duty on import of sets valuing between $100 and $200 will be Rs2,700. The import value of mobile phone less than $350 per set but more than $200 will attract Rs3,600 regulatory duty per set.
If import value of a mobile phone ranges between $350 and $500, the duty will be charged at a flat rate of Rs10,500, while the regulatory duty will be Rs18,500 per set if a mobile phone has import value of more than $500.
Previously, the regulatory duty on import of mobile phones valuing up to $60 was Rs250 per set, while it was 10 per cent and 20pc of the import value for those with a price ranging between $60 and $130 and those valuing more than $130, respectively.
Official believe the flat rates for each slab were worked out in a way to remove ambiguity in imposition of regulatory duty on import of mobile phones irrespective of their prices.
In 2017-18, Pakistan’s legal import value of mobile phones reached $847.656 million in 2017-18. Earlier when there was no duty under a free trade agreement with China, or a very negligible duty applicable from other countries, the imports had crossed the $1bn mark.
The government recently revised the duty structure and imposed regulatory duty on import of mobile phones, which resulted in a drop in the legal import with a subsequent rise in their smuggling.
Earlier in May 2018, the Pakistan Telecommunica¬tion Authority had launched the Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System mechanism to counter rampant smuggling of substandard and used phones into the country.
