confusion about the tax on mobile phones

Confusion about the tax on mobile phones

As there still is lots of confusion about the tax on mobile phones in Pakistan, in this post I will try to explain the thing in detail. here goes.

1) if you have ever used your mobile phone in Pakistan before (with a Pakistani SIM, can't say for sure about roaming) December 2018, you do not need to register or pay any tax when you go back (no matter how long your stay is going to be)

2) if you're not planning to use a sim card in the device (for example a tablet that does not use a sim, or something to play games on), you do not need to register or pay tax for it. (if you later change your mind and decide to use a sim, your tablet will still work for 30 days before requiring to register and pay tax) again for this case the length of your stay does not matter.

3) if you're only going to use roaming (and not a Pakistani sim) in your phone, you do not need to register or pay tax, length of your stay does not matter here.

4) if you're going to use a local Pakistani sim, but will be in Pakistan for less than 30 days, you do not need to register or pay tax. (although you may or may not have to register the next time you take the device to PK, hopefully they have catered for this case as well and implemented some kind of a reset period)

5) you're allowed to register a phone (that you're taking as a gift) without paying taxes once an year. so for example you're going to Pakistan for 20 days with three devices, two of which are yours and one is a gift for someone, you do not have to register the devices that you're going to keep and get the gift registered without paying taxes. but if your stay is going to be longer than 30 days and you're going to use local sims, you will have have to pay the taxes for at least two devices and get the third one registered as a gift.

hopefully, for other cases you guys will still be able to figure out based on the above mentioned cases  Please do let me know if I have missed something or made a mistake. The info used in this post comes from FBR documents and press releases by govt.