PESHAWAR: On the one hand, Federal Board of Revenue has increased taxes on certain commodities on the other it has reduced duties on modern gadgets in order to give an easy access to general public for using these technologies, said Collector Customs Gull Rahman while talking with Customs Today on Wednesday at Peshawar.
In this age of technology, Pakistan Customs has reduced Custom Duty on Smart-phones in the year 2017-18 which has increased the use of the smart-phones and given a boost to mobile broadband in the country for the reason many international brands have entered national broadband market of Pakistan. The reduced taxes have increased the purchase and sale of smart-phones more in the local market which has added extra revenue of millions to the national exchequer, Collector Customs said.
Owing to the boom in the Smartphone market and attraction of foreign brands, the Federal Board of Revenue has reduced Withholding Tax on mobile phones from 14 percent. Moreover, customs duty on Smartphone sets will be cut by Rs650 per set.
The Collector Customs added that the government has also reduced certain other taxes on Smart-phones, the budget document has claimed. According to a source, one category–for which import duty was Rs1000–has been reduced to Rs650.
It must be mentioned that there were three categories of handsets as follow: Feature phone–Import Duty: Rs 300, Low end smart-phone–Import Duty: Rs650 (Previously it was Rs1000) and High End Smartphone-Import Duty: Rs1500.
With this tax reduction, mid-range and low-end phones will see a price reduction, as most of the smart-phone companies in Pakistan adjust their prices according to taxes and import duties. This step has been taken to increase the uptake of smart-phones in the country.
