PTA asks FBR not to collect tax on phones imported before 1st July 2019

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is collecting taxes on cellphones which international travelers brought into the country under the Baggage Rules, which is that one foreign passenger can bring one duty-free mobile in Pakistan. But now as ProPakistani reports, that according to some official sources the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has discussed the matter with FBR and asked them to treat all mobile phones imported before July 1, 2019, should be treated according to the baggage rules.

Sources further revealed that FBR is collecting taxes on mobile phones which were brought into the country before 1st July 2019, and fall under the Baggage Rules. But ideally, the customs officials should only tax those mobiles which were imported after July 1. This is the reason why PTA has raised the issue with FBR and asked them to exclude mobile phones imported before July 1.

As per the official data revealed by the authorities, PTA has blocked a total of 10,273,531 devices on a rolling basis after sending them a 60-day warning notification. The authorities also sent a notification to consumers through SMS, informing them that their mobile phones are being blocked due to non-registration.

Sources from PTA have stated that uptill now a total of 1,195,562 IMEI numbers have been unblocked under Device Identification, Registration and Blocking Regulation System DIRBS after collecting taxes, and that many people have submitted complaints that despite payments of taxes, their devices were not blocked.

DIRBS system was launched by PTA last year to help identify devices that have illegal IMEI or are stolen. It further helps to ensure that the device IMEI is of standard formation and not cloned. FBR earlier this month also released flat rates for taxes against various price segments on the import of mobile phones to set aside any ambiguities. For details regarding how much tax you have to pay on your mobile device, you can read this article here.