A major review of the duties and taxes structure on the import of mobile phones is underway at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), a budget maker told ProPakistani late on Tuesday.
Sources informed that the revenue impact of the proposed relief measure would be negative on the FBR collection in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24).
“The tax policy on the import of mobile phones has been totally revised in the coming budget”, a top FBR official said.
The FBR is likely to retain an 18 percent sales tax rate on the import of mobile phones and FBR has also imposed a 25 percent sales tax on the import of luxury items. The sales tax structure and withholding tax would not be touched in the coming budget. However, customs and regulatory duties are proposed to be further reduced on imported mobile phones from July 1, 2023.
From April 1, 2023, a 50 percent regulatory duty (RD) was reduced on the import of mobile phones. The withdrawal of the FBR’s SROs from March 31 has only abolished the component of the increased rates of RDs, but the original notification of the RDs is still intact.
The buyer has to pay withholding tax as well as a fixed mobile levy on the import of mobile phones. The standard rate of sales tax has also been increased from 17 to 18 percent which is applicable on the import of mobile phones.
