Govt slashes duty on import of mobile phones

ISLAMABAD: The federal government via a presidential ordinance has reduced withholding and the sales tax on imported mobile phones.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued a list of salient features to explain the amendments to Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 through Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2001. The amendments will apply to income tax, sales tax and customs duty.

Under the Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2019, the FBR has reduced sales tax on few categories of mobile phones, lower rate of income tax at the import stage on certain categories of mobile phones.

Reduction in Withholding Tax:

As per the order, withholding taxes have been reduced for mobile phones having a value of USD 30 to USD 100, from PKR 730 to PKR 100 per mobile phone.

Reduction in Sales Tax:

Sales tax on mobile phones that cost up to USD 30 has been reduced to PKR 100 and on phones that cost up to USD 100, the sales tax has significantly been reduced to PKR 200.

Back in September 2019, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had proposed to slash regulatory duty (RD) on import of mobile phones by up to 50 per cent to provide relief to the common man.