The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Finance has approved a proposal to abolish regulatory duty on smartphones, a development shared by committee member Ali Kasim Gilani.
Taking to X, Gilani posted, “Alhamdulillah, the regulatory duty on smartphones has been abolished. A positive step towards making connectivity and technology more accessible and affordable for the people of Pakistan.”
The decision to end the duty came during a committee meeting chaired by former finance minister Syed Naveed Qamar, where committee reviewed the taxation structure for both imported and locally assembled mobile devices.
Phones valued up to $30 are taxed at 25 percent, while those priced between $31 and $100 fall under a 36 percent slab.
Devices worth $101 to $200 attract a 40 percent tax, while phones in the $201 to $350 range face an effective rate of 38 percent. Smartphones priced between $351 and $500 are taxed at 40 percent, and devices exceeding $500 carry an effective rate of 41 percent.
According to the briefing, the financial burden ranges from Rs1,500 per unit to as high as Rs141,500, increasing alongside the price of the handset. Officials added that 44 percent of imported phones fall within the $31 to $100 category, and the average effective tax rate across all categories stands at 39.6 percent.
Committee members highlighted the widespread use of non-PTA phones and proposed introducing an instalment-based tax payment system to ease the acquisition of compliance status.
Committee chairman Naveed Qamar directed FBR to work alongside the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to develop a feasible instalment plan.
FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial suggested that taxes on phones priced up to $200 could be reduced, though some members, including MNA Hina Rabbani Khar, questioned the intent behind the proposal.
Khar asked whether the move aimed to raise revenue or favour a particular company.
Langrial stated that mobile phones remain a major source of revenue, contributing Rs37 billion annually from imports, with Apple devices accounting for Rs21 billion. He cautioned that dropping taxes on lower-priced devices would generate a Rs1 billion deficit that would have to be recovered through other avenues.
