DIRBS Fetches Whopping Rs 45.4bn Tax from Mobile Phones – FBR

DIRBS System developed by a Pakistani company 3G Technologies (Guarantee) Limited based on Qualcomm Open source for PTA was able to generate a whopping Rs 45.4bn tax from mobile phones in 08 Months from January to August 2020 reported by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The project was initiated to mitigate the free flow of counterfeit and smuggled mobile imports and provide an equal playing field for legitimate mobile brands and importers.

The DIRBS system launched last year has started bearing fruits by not only stopping counterfeit and illegal imports but has enabled tax revenues to be multiplied despite the downturn in the economy. Following are some import and revenue figures shared by FBR with media on the launch impact of DIRBS in the country.

SEE ALSO: DIRBS Boosts Pakistan’s Economic Growth (Case Study)

According to FBR, during the FY20, around 1.38 million mobile devices were registered via DIRBS by individuals. FBR has collected a total of Rs7.04bn in revenues between Jan 2019 and Aug 2020 under the individual category with following brand-wise bifurcation.

FBR has also released that commercial import of around 19.8 million mobile devices was made during FY20 and FBR has collected Rs39.414bn revenue from commercial imports during the year.

Realizing the importance of DIRBS, the government has also approved mobile phone manufacturing policy in May 2020. This is an encouraging sign for all the foreign and local brands to invest by establishing manufacturing plants in Pakistan. Mr. Hammad Azhar Minister of Economic Affairs has also announced that the local assembly will not only create numerous job opportunities for the locals but will also help OEMs in making mobile devices with cheap labor. This shall ultimately benefit the general consumers who will have to pay less when buying the locally manufactured mobile device said Mr. Hammad Azhar- A win-win situation for everyone.

If you are looking to find out the amount of tax that you’d have to pay on a phone that you imported, here’s the tax calculator that we built.