KARACHI: Federal Bureau of Revenue has proposed to cut down the import duties on the import of cellular phones by 50 percent. FBR said in a statement that it suggests slashing the duties for providing relief to a common man and its mission to support digitization.
The proposed step will have no impact on the overall collection of duties under this measure. The bureau expects that it will increase imports.
“This reduction in duty/tax is expected to increase import volume of mobiles in Pakistan,” the summary, FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi has signed, says. This may “to some extent, neutralize the otherwise negative impact of this measure.”
The bureau has proposed the reduction to provide relief to the common man and to support the digitization in the country. The proposal below displays the suggested reduction in regulatory duty.
The local businessmen and manufacturers have shown their concerns and reservations that such step by FBR will immediately kill the local smartphone manufacturing feasibility. The local manufacturers are in the process to introduce Pakistan assembled mobile phones.
According to the industry sources Abdul Razzak Dawood is in the process of developing a policy for the locally manufactured mobile phones. As per the same sources, the assembly of mobile phones in Pakistan is a lucrative business opportunity but FBR’s step will provide a disincentive for the local assembly market.
