Govt to reduce PTA tax on mobile phones in next budget

The government of Pakistan is likely to reduce the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) tax on mobile phones in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2026-27.

A meeting was held by the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday, chaired by Syed Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The committee unanimously recommended that the Federal government and the Finance Ministry reduce the PTA taxes on mobiles.

The committee have asked the PTA to halve the tax on mobile phones of every brand.

The recommendations were given after a joint report was submitted by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Finance Ministry in front of the committee.

Kasim Gilani speaks at PTA tax reduction

Member of the National Assembly (MNA) of Pakistan, and senior leader of the PPP, Syed Ali Kasim Gilani, embraced the decision taken by the committee to reduce the tax on mobile phones by the PTA.

In his video message at X, formerly known as Twitter, he said, “I am very happy to say that the report submitted by the FBR to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Finance has been unanimously recommended to the Federal government and the Finance Ministry.”

He added, “The chairpersons of the FBR, PTA, and the Secretary of Finance promised the committee to organise a joint study by March and to submit a detailed report in front of the committee, and they successfully fulfilled it.”

The public was facing affordability issues due to excessive taxation on mobile phones by the PTA, Kasim Gilani said.

Gilani also personally thanked the Standing Committee members and the chairman, Naveed Qamar, for their deliberation in recommending the tax reduction to the government.

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PTA tax on imported mobile phones (current rates)

iPhones

Samsung

Google Pixel

OnePlus

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