Prices of products on online marketplaces like Temu and AliExpress have surged sharply in Pakistan following the recently passed budget.
Internet users in Pakistan have pointed out in recent days that prices have soared dramatically on these platforms, with some items reportedly costing three to four times more than before.
However, the three to four times price increase is not due to recently introduced taxes alone.
Here’s what happened
So, basically the government of Pakistan has introduced a Digital Presence Proceeds Tax Act, under which a 5 percent tax has been imposed on goods sold in Pakistan from abroad.
Moreover, in addition to the 5 percent tax, these online platforms or shopping stores will also have to pay an 18 percent sales tax, just like other businesses in Pakistan do.
To put it into perspective, a manufacturer in Pakistan pays 18 percent sales tax along with 35 percent income tax if he sells a product. However, foreign companies like Temu, AliExpress etc., sell products in Pakistan without paying any taxes, something which will change now.
Is the up to 300% increase in prices due to taxes?
No, the taxes introduced in the budget can’t result in a 300 percent increase in prices of products listed on websites like Temu. The more likely scenario is that Temu has deliberately increased the prices as a precaution to avoid any unspecified taxes or duties.
A Temu spokesperson attributed the price changes to recent policy shifts and rising operational costs. “The prices of some products may have changed due to recent changes in external policies and rising operational costs across various areas. We remain committed to providing access to quality products at affordable prices, while fully complying with local requirements,” he said.
And there’s a likelihood that the prices will come down in the coming weeks once there is more clarity on these taxes.
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Price of goods is one thing and that has not changed. Please note that goods customs duties were already being paid where applicable. The recent issue is of cutting the cheap china mail courier charges, which is fault of current scenario and policies. Now buyers have to forcefully select DHL or other expensive courier services. Let’s not mix courier shipping charges with tax plz. It’s half news.
Again that’s something our govt chose to do. It’s not cheap but affordable thanks to chinese shipments.
Now we are forced to pay more for a thing that was supposed to be non expensive
Best way is to stop on immediate basis to buy from these platforms, to get the desired result
And then do what ? We don’t make anything .
Yes, you are right and wrong as we do not make anything bcz we don’t want anyone to make anything without filling our pockets legally and illegally(BTW we prefer illegally more ;) which is why are make legal this easy for you. ), we just not make problems but we have a team of higly qualified corrupt indiviualls who are working day and night just to make a system which generate income in our banks while giving you lots of goodies like, water issue, gas issue, electricity issue, municiple issue, you just name it and we have delivered you already and we are continously searching for betterment of this system. Don’t you see beautiful cars on the road which we have bought from your taxes? Aren’t you getting mismarized by the glimps of our convoy by standing for so long in a traffic while we and our family passby? This is all for your entertainment.
Import is bad for any country like us.cause it’s actually sending your money outside county.
The more we import, the more bad the effects
Already Pakistan is importing many many basic products. And trend has started of import at individual level. Meaning import at government level was not enough that people started doing on personal level for the most basic things which are actually their wants only. This is more bad for our economy I think
After all we were living life when these were not here…
We need to stop this impulsive buying.
Stop imports as much as we can.
And calm down…
Problem is that sellers in Pakistan don’t work honestly online. They show one quality and send another. Whereas buying from Temu is not like that – the seller is accountable but not in Pakistan. I agree it is not good for the economy however ppl are tired of being scammed by local sellers
Agree ADNAN
Of course at these prices no one would buy anything, bye bye Temu. 😕
They don’t operate in pakistan. China and Pakistan share border. Imposing 5% and further 18% tax only creates more issues.
.
Taxes on everything but no benefit
What does sharing a border have to do with this?
Bcz sharing border means less shipping cost . Did you ever in your life study trade ?
All trade is mostly done using transportation costs which the seller includes in your bill . The further away the nation of the seller , the higher the costs.
Sharing border makes trade easier due to lesser shipping costs. Putting taxes on simple small goods only creates more taxes but also creates more trade barriers. Making other nations hate you
exactly, but still in my opninion people will reduce buying from these platforms because of higher prices, just look at the same product on AE and Daraz, price comparison is like crazy high on AE.
but you are an angry guy i hope you calm down.
I am so disappointed 😔
Angry Guy: You definitely havent studied trade, economics, or maybe even basic logic.
Do you know anything about EU?
Are there any cross border taxes there?
No!
Then what have you been studying??
Pakistan a slave nation!
Can’t buy cross border cheap gas from Iran due to foreign pressure,
So Pakistan has to listen IMF and its own elite mafia
Apparently you didn’t prove me wrong . Typical
Pakistani government is a source of pain, only rolling out counterproductive schemes.
Pakistani Dictatorship*
We did not elect these clowns.
Kia prices phly ki trh low ho gi temu par
Bullshit. These a**holes have no idea what they are doing. Hurting the common and the student who buys electronic things cheaply from online resources. This bull shit will not get anyone anywhere. Neither can these idiots get their desired tax collection objectives as people simply will not buy.
This is to demotivate discourage the purchase from foreign platforms… Netflix amazon prime might be included as well…
Imports mean sending out $$$ of country… Which is not good for economy…
If people stop buying from foreign platforms, it’s good for country is guess…
yes it would be good for the country only if businesess in this country are honest enough to make quality stuff good enough for atleast its own citizens. I am not a fan of temu but based on a few items I have purchased …based on that I must say that they return you a good value of your money as compared to our own sellers who earn thousands in profits for comparatively cheap stuff. Anything that makes the life of common man a bit easy is never in the interest of these policy makers who just come in power to suck the blood of poor masses.
Realistically is completely wrong. If import means sending $$$ out then they don’t buy from us as well
We don’t make things at all . Where do you think your phone, tablet, computer come from ? $$$
We buy small products from these platforms bcz they are the only ones that sell them.
Not buying means we can’t have things we require.
By that logic don’t import oil . Let’s go back to ox carts and tangas
Result in low sales will result in lowered tax collections it’s better that we as Pakistani stop using these platforms then government will consider lowering taxes and charges
Low sales doesn’t result in lower taxes ..
Low sales means lower product rates..
Govt implements tax once, and it’s policy for all
Businesses have to handle that ..
Like in case of Kia Stonic.
The company lowered huge amount (15lac approx) to come under the 4million to avoid 25% tax for above 4million vehicle.
And results were see in massive sales!
If the desired effect was for pakistani population to stop using the apps ,then like all others businesses in pakistan, congratulations, we can not longer afford anything on temu or ali express or daraz , only except landa bazar. You have shut the system down ,less traffic on the roads because of all the fired delivery personnel less motorcycles , mission accomplished another victory on the road to greatness and making our helping neighbour china well ,I leave it to you to guess.
Very good govt policies now no body ll go for online shopping from any forum
Pakistan’s govt doesn’t spare any chance to make people’s life miserable.
This is an illegal government
They have no concern for the general Public
True
Removing taxes on luxury items imports, lowering taxes on electrical vehicle, put taxes on things that common people purchase, Govt isn’t stupid they want people to stay poor.
These illiterate bas..ds govt acting like that farmer own hen that gives golden eggs once everyday these greedy policymakers decided to get all ransom at once by killing that hen in this case temu and AE . They are becoming more greedy for their own lifestyle they are looting us common public every way possible . Doing business in this country is becoming difficult.no facilities heavy taxes low customers purchase power
Uffffff😭😭😭😭😭
This is not true
In Pakistan never ever something is done better for ppl
Moreover they should promote ease of things
Why would a company will bear loss
All goods were already under customs clearance which means thy were custom paid all were paid through bank cards meaning we were paying taxes so please before writing article go through all facts and figures
RIP
Buying from foreign platform like temu AliExpress is just sending your money outside Pakistan.(I.e import)
When a country imports stuff, its bad for economy…
But first of all what is the need to but basic stuff from temu AliExpress etc…
How were we living life when these were not here… !
Also these platforms were not giving taxes to our govt. So it’s a loss already.
No it isnt . And clearly you have never studied trade or commerce.
Why don’t we stop importing cars or petrol ? We don’t need them.
Why use phones, computers as they are also imported.
Don’t use them. We don’t need them. They take the most $$$ out of this country
Reportedly Monkey Minister Atta Tarrar on a visit to China told them that like US, Pakistan will also impose additional tax on Chinese products to which they replied in Chinese which translates to “Ja Tur Ja Ithun Dhi di Phuddi ich lull leryn diaa
Additional taxes (partial reason) plus cheap courier bans (main reason) !
Items that required 11 usd shipping from china to pakistan ( aliexpress) now requires 43 usd. And temu used to operate through same basic “standard” shiments ( very cheap) , since temu mostly gives free shipping it covers its expenses through incorporating its cost into the item’s price itself,hence the sky rocketing of prices on temu,
How it might affect our local market
There shall be a significant increase in prices on items available on local platforms like daraz and insta pages etc, which will also bubble the prices in the local physical markets since now consumers cant purschase from the already inflated temu/aliexpress market (which brought competition) , local vendors see this as an opportunity to exploit a handtied consumer. Even if it reverts back to previous terms (unlikely taxes) ! permanant ramnants of higher prices would linger on due to our unpredictable policies
I am freelancer and providing embedded system engineering services on Fiverr and Upwork and i oftenly buy my electronics from Aliexpress. i see some people praising the decision but about me i was getting the usd from outside and spending little money on my hardware for testing purpose now no hardware Will come and no one will hire me again so import of usd also blocked it’s effect on both side but uneducated government community will not understand
I am wondering that Temu has increased its prices approx more than 150%, however taxes imposed round about 17% ST + 35% IT. Before Pakistan’s budget I bought a Camera Rs.3,500 after budget same company same model prices are quoted Rs.10,000 (+-), which is totally unfair. Temu is losing its market if he didn’t review its prices