Pakistani online shoppers have started noticing significant tax additions on AliExpress orders, with some cases showing taxes exceeding 70 to 80 percent of the product value.
The popular Chinese e-commerce platform has started listing separate tax amounts at checkout for buyers in Pakistan.
For instance, a $36.96 order on AliExpress added $25.87 in taxes at checkout — pushing the total cost to $62.83, an increase of more than 70%.
The development follows the federal government’s decision earlier this year to bring global e-commerce imports under the tax net.
Authorities had instructed platforms such as AliExpress and Temu to collect taxes at the source to curb unregulated cross-border trade and boost domestic revenue.
But the development is interesting because the government had earlier introduced a 5% digital presence tax on foreign e-commerce platforms — only to roll it back later.
Though the 5% levy is withdrawn, AliExpress has started adding separate tax charges, especially on smaller cross-border imports.
Under the rollback, the digital presence tax will not apply to goods and services supplied from outside Pakistan, effective retroactively from July 1, 2025.
Industry observers say the move appears to have taken effect first on AliExpress, while Temu has not yet added any visible tax component at checkout for Pakistani users.
However, the sharp rise in checkout totals has sparked frustration among frequent online buyers, who argue that the new system makes affordable small imports significantly more expensive.
AliExpress has not issued an official statement yet, but the tax breakdown shown on its checkout page notes that “taxes are listed separately under ‘Tax’ at checkout” for some products.
Analysts say the change could discourage small e-commerce purchases from overseas and push consumers toward local marketplaces instead.
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While the digital tag has been rolled back. Bilal my dear , had you looked into more details , you’d know that free delivery option has been scraped and delivery charges increased.
That’s the issue. Pakistan has raised significant charges on cross border imports. That’s why aliexpress raised charges.
The Traders were worried about temu and aliexpress . Now heavy l have fun paying 200% delivery charges. I had to pay 7000 rs for a 900rs item.
I am glad that traders will be paying more.
What most people like the author of the article (Angry Guy aap nahi) don’t realize is that even on items with no Customs Duty at time of import, there’s always 18% Sales Tax charged at the minimum, forget all other additional taxes like withholding, federal levy and what not at time of import.
Previously, they were somehow managing to avoid it but you can’t do that forever. This obviously gave individual imports an edge over someone who ran legal business in Pakistan and imported by paying all those taxes.
There still are items that are not charged this tax. Just select Choice shipment method and see.
Yeah traders consume everything themselves and won’t pass on the burden.
Your comment is incorrect. While the free delivery option is still available for some products, if you purchase items worth over PKR 3,100 the delivery would be for free. The current issue is the tax at checkout which is so frustrating because nothing seems logical to purchase on ali express if you’re paying double the amount for it.
This is the result of knee-jerk policies formulated by the government, exacerbated by whimsical policy changes and no long-term policy continuity.
No wonder businesses and talents are running away from Pakistan and FDI is nowhere to be seen, SMEs and larger units are closing at alarming rate despite tall claims about economic revival by illegitimate government and retiree Martial Law escapades.
Please encourage local production of items only if and when the manufacturers meet a certain degree of quality. Meanwhile allow the imports at reasonable price. If you do not do so, you will be encouraging unqualified, ill-intentioned local manufacturers to flood the market with trash. Believe me or not, not a single nail produced here is straight and flawless. Our local mafia must learn lessons from the international manufacturers.
are you kidding me? push consumers to local marketplaces?
most of the products available on aliexpress is not even available in pakistan.
this country deserves to rot and die.