ISLAMABAD: Denying the media reports, Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar Saturday said that Rs 300 raise in tax was only on expensive mobile phones, which were usually used by the rich.
He said the tax on expensive mobile phones was Rs 700, which had been proposed Rs 1,000 in the budget 2015-16.
It was not correct that tax on mobile phones was doubled in the budget as was reported in a section of the press, he added.
Ishaq Dar said now only sales tax would be charged on import of mobile phones while the regulatory duty had been abolished.
The minister said the purchasers of first category of low priced mobile sets would get a concession of Rs 50 as they used to pay Rs 350 on their import, including Rs 150 sale tax and Rs 200 regulatory duty and now they would have to pay only sales tax of Rs 300.
He said the sales tax on import of second category of mobile phones had been fixed at Rs 500 against total Rs 450 charges, including Rs 250 sales tax and Rs 200 regulatory duty.
Similarly, Rs 700 was charged on third category of mobile phones, including Rs 500 sales tax and Rs 200 regulatory duty, while now the buyers would have to pay only sales tax of Rs 1,000, he added.
