Business
Govt to reduce tax on imported mobiles for next fiscal year
A lawmaker said that the National Assembly has included a number of adjustments in the Finance Bill for the next fiscal year to a certain extent decrease taxes on imported mobile phones.
The legislative measures follow a lengthy parliamentary debate after the original draft of the federal budget did not include recommended reforms of the nation’s heavily taxed telecoms sector.
The modifications did not include the extensive tax rollbacks sought by a parliamentary commission, but are a sign of a policy shift towards lowering the burden on mobile customers, said MNA Kasim Gilani.
“This is not enough, we know this, but still whatever has been done let’s take this for this year,” Gilani told foreign media. “We will cut next year, too.
“If a phone costs 200,000 rupees ($720), the tax on it right now was 106,000 rupees to be exact ,” Gilani said, adding that the parliamentary budget committee had urged in March that cellphones be classified as a necessity rather than a luxury asset.
When the main budget ignored these proposals, MPs had earlier this month invoked amendment provisions to take on the luxury GST rate of 25% as well as import obstacles prescribed by statute.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) after a long debate accepted changes in the final wording of the Finance Bill. Gilani said the government had agreed to remove 20 percent Regulatory Duty on all imported smart phones.
Second, the FBR has approved an adjustment for the mid-tier import bracket, which is for devices costing between $200 and $300, including highly saturated market segments. The concession will have revenue impact of around Rs1 billion ($3.6 million) on the states. The luxury GST rate of up to 25% remains applicable to high-end cellphones priced above $500, and the only respite in the current budget cycle is a 20% reduction in regulatory charge.
Lawmakers proposed an amendment in the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) registration criteria that consumers will be able to pay charge in instalments to deal with the millions of handsets working outside the lawful cellular network.
“PTA can block the device of those who cannot pay the installment in any month, with a small penalty for re-activation,” Gilani recommended. “Make this plan to get more people into the tax net, get their devices registered.”
Gold prices increased in domestic and foreign markets, with the rate of gold in the international bullion market shooting up by $57 an ounce to $4,604.
The gold price in Pakistan went up by Rs5,700 per tola, reaching Rs482,936.
The price of 10 grams of gold too went up by Rs4,972 to Rs414,039.
Meanwhile the price of silver was constant. Silver Rs7,379 per tola and Rs6,326 per 10 grams.
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal bin Saqib said on Saturday that the new regulations on virtual asset services have been notified and legalised and this step will protect digital investors from fraud.
Under the system, Pakistan would license and regulate virtual asset service providers. The regulations, which are part of the Virtual Assets Act, 2026, list ten types of licences, including exchange, custody, broker-dealer, advisory, lending and borrowing, derivatives, asset management, transfer and settlement, issuance and mining related services.
Each category puts up detailed standards including conduct, prudential, technology and anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the funding of “terrorism” (CFT).
The action is part of Pakistan’s broader attempt to formalise the oversight of cryptocurrencies and other digital currencies, bringing a largely uncontrolled industry under a framework in line with global norms to promote transparency, compliance and investor protection.
“This means that now there is a clear framework, a licensing process and a legal front door for any business that wants to provide virtual asset services in Pakistan, whether they are Pakistani or global,” Saqib said in a televised statement.
The rules would help safeguard investors in digital currencies from fraud and put the entire crypto market under the rule of law, the official added.
In Pakistan, the crypto market has been operating without any law and millions of people were participating in trading of digital currencies,” he said.
“But there were no regulations, no regulations at all,” he claimed. “And when such a big economic activity is outside the law, the risk is on both sides.
In a separate news release by PVARA, the authority said existing virtual asset operators need to apply for a no-objection certificate with the authority by September 5.
“Any person who was providing virtual asset services before the commencement of the Act shall submit a NOC application by such date or shall cease to provide virtual asset services,” PVARA added. “After that date, operating without an application is an offense.”
Licensed virtual asset service providers must maintain customer holdings distinct from their own and cannot lend or pledge them without prior approval, said PVARA. “Promises will be binding commitments,” the authority added.
The authority said it will allow licensed providers to get into the formal banking system.
The dealers’ margin on petrol and diesel has been increased by 14 per cent with immediate effect and Rs1.34 per litre allowed for the dealers of both petroleum products.
The dealers’ profit has gone up from Rs8.64 to Rs9.98 per litre following the hike.
The rise in the dealers’ margin is effective from immediately.
The government had raised the price of fuel by Rs3.81 a litre the previous nite, bringing its new price to Rs341.59 a litre.
Likewise, the price of high-speed diesel was increased by Rs3.59 per litre, with the new price set at Rs368.29 per litre.
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