In a bid to fix the economic woes, the government is mulling over increasing the taxes on the import of mobile phones to stabilize Pakistan’s worsening financial condition. Amid the continuous depreciation of the rupee, the government is curating an import curtailment plan to put off the pressure from foreign exchange reserves.
Various slabs of taxes are imposed on the import of mobile phones
As per details, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Ministry of Commerce have suggested the government an increase in regulatory duty on the import of mobile phones. As per sources, the new duties will vary between Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 44,000 depending on the value of the device. The five slabs of regulatory duties imposed on the import of mobile phones are as follows:
- Rs.6000 duty imposed on mobile phones worth $30-100
- Rs.15,000 duty imposed on mobile phones worth $101-200
- Rs.22,000 duty imposed on mobile phones worth $201-350
- Rs.30,000 duty imposed on mobile phones worth $351-500
- Rs.44,000 duty imposed on mobile phones above $500
The submitted proposal also suggested increasing duty on the following items:
- Regulatory duty on machinery will be up by 10% and home appliances by 50%
- Power generation machinery regulations to go up by 30%
- Steel products regulatory duty to go up by 10%
- Duty on cars above 1,000cc to be up by 100% and 30% ACD
- Regulatory duty on ceramics to be up by 40%
Government to ban the import of luxury items
The federal government has planned to impose a ban on the import of 50 luxury items including; cars, cheese, jams, frozen food items, fish, dried fruit, cosmetics, and tires. An official source confirmed to a local publication; “We will have to follow a procedure to move ahead with imposition of ban on import of 50 luxury items. The World Trade Organisation allows the imposition of the ban if its member country faces a balance of payment crisis. But this ban can be imposed for a few months period only,” “The government has estimated that the banning of luxury items in the range of 50 to 60 products could save $250 million on monthly basis,” the source further added.
Read more: Mobile Phone Imports Increase by 7% to $1.8 Billion in 10 Months
