FBR to refund excessive duties, taxes it charged on smartphones
Says it happened due to a glitch
Photo: AFP
The Federal Board of Revenue has apologized for charging excessive customs duties and taxes on smartphones, which it says happened because of a procedural glitch.
The issue will be resolved by Saturday, the revenue authority said in a statement.
After the news aired, the FBR investigated and found that it happened by mistake, according to the statement.
It was revealed after a meeting with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority that passengers could register up to five mobile phones on a passport and in case of high-end phones of more than $500, the difference of duty and taxes between passport and CNIC registration is about Rs9,000.
“In order to correct this anomaly and to limit the registration of mobile phone against passport up to one set, the module was modified through CRF (change request form),” the FBR said. “However, during the process, the exemption of withholding tax was also deleted and thus now the system was showing total taxes on passport as Rs36,720.”
The issue has been taken up with the Karachi R&A Director, it said. A team is reviewing the module to resolve the issue and restore previous leviable duty and taxes.
“Due to this glitch in the system, all those who paid more duty would be refunded the excess amount forthwith,” the FBR said.
It regretted the inconvenience caused to those who had to pay excessive duties and taxes.
