How PTA tax on phones works in Pakistan

ptakaro is not part of the PTA or FBR. This guide explains the rules as we read them in the official documents listed below. The amount you are charged when you register the phone is the one that counts.

What the PTA tax is

A phone you bring into Pakistan, or are given from abroad, has to be registered to keep working on Pakistani networks after its first 60 days on a local SIM (DIRBS FAQs, questions 8 and 14). You register it with the PTA through its DIRBS system, and the tax is customs duty and taxes collected by FBR. PTA’s DIRBS FAQs say every device that is registered “will be subject to relevant FBR duties”.

Your application goes from DIRBS to FBR’s WeBOC system, which works out the duty and taxes and issues a payment slip ID (PSID) for you to pay (CGO 01 of 2019, paragraph 2-A; DIRBS SOP, clauses 17.3 and 17.4). A phone that DIRBS already shows as compliant does not need to be registered again (DIRBS FAQs, question 7).

Passport or CNIC

There are two ways to register, and they cost different amounts.

• Passport (international traveller). For a phone you brought with you in your accompanied baggage, registered within 60 days of arriving in Pakistan (CGO 01 of 2019, paragraph 2-A; DIRBS FAQs, question 5).
• CNIC (local applicant). For a phone registered on a Pakistani CNIC (DIRBS FAQs, question 5). FBR’s procedure charges the duty and taxes plus a “prescribed fine” for a local applicant, and the same for a traveller who registers after the 60 days (CGO 01 of 2019, paragraphs 2-A and 2-B).

PTA’s FAQs put it this way: there is “no discount on device registration within 60 days”, but a traveller registering after 60 days, or a local applicant registering on a CNIC, “will have to pay additional tax/duty” (DIRBS FAQs, PSID question 8). The difference comes from the income tax and the fine below.

The bands

Each charge depends on the phone’s customs value per set in US dollars (the C&F value). For phones FBR has valued, that value is fixed by a valuation ruling, for example VR 1834/2023 for phones in general and VR 1999/2025 for new iPhones; the Customs Act, section 25A, gives these rulings their force. A band runs from just above its lower value up to and including its upper value.

These are the fixed charges in force from 1 July 2026, as we read them:

Phone value (US$)	Regulatory duty	Mobile handset levy	Income tax, CNIC route only	Sales tax
Up to 30	Rs 240	Rs 100	Rs 100 (Rs 70 for a phone that is not a smartphone)	18%
30 to 100	Rs 2,400	Rs 200	Rs 100	18%
100 to 200	Rs 6,000	Rs 200	Rs 100	18%
200 to 350	Rs 8,800	Rs 1,800	Rs 970	18%
350 to 500	Rs 12,000	Rs 4,000	Rs 5,000	18%
500 to 700	Rs 17,600	Rs 8,000	Rs 11,500	25%
Above 700	Rs 17,600	Rs 16,000	Rs 11,500	25%

FBR and PTA do not publish a current table like this one. We put it together from the instruments below and have not yet checked it against a real PSID, so treat it as an estimate.

What each charge is

• Customs duty: 0%. The Fifth Schedule to the Customs Act lists smartphones (serial number 99) and cellular mobile phones (serial number 100) at 0%. The Customs Tariff 2026-27 prints Rs 250 a set for phones, but section 18(1A) of the Customs Act applies the Fifth Schedule rate instead. This is our reading of the two texts.
• Regulatory duty. A fixed amount per set for each band, set by S.R.O. 1064(I)/2026, serial numbers 550 to 555, in force from 1 July 2026. Its paragraph 2(c) keeps it on phones imported under the Fifth Schedule.
• Additional customs duty: none, on our reading. S.R.O. 1063(I)/2026, paragraph 3, does not levy it on imports under the Fifth Schedule or under the Baggage Rules. We have not confirmed that WeBOC agrees.
• Sales tax. 18% of the phone’s value up to US$500 and 25% above, charged “on the basis of import value per set” (Sales Tax Act, Ninth Schedule, Table-II).
• Income tax (section 148), CNIC route only. The amounts in the table come from the Income Tax Ordinance, First Schedule, Part II. Its Second Schedule (clause 60E) says section 148 does not apply to phones brought in personal baggage, which is why the passport route has none. For people not on FBR’s Active Taxpayers List, the Tenth Schedule (rule 1) doubles it; FBR’s 2026-27 rate card shows Rs 140 to Rs 23,000 instead of Rs 70 to Rs 11,500. We have not confirmed that WeBOC applies the doubling to DIRBS registrations.
• Mobile handset levy. A fixed amount for each band under section 10 of the Finance Act 2018, with the table set by the Finance Act 2022. The Finance Act 2026, section 7, cut the US$101 to 200 band from Rs 600 to Rs 200. The 2018 Act levies it on smart phones, so whether other phones pay it is not confirmed.
• Prescribed fine, CNIC route. FBR’s procedure names a “prescribed fine” but does not say how much it is (CGO 01 of 2019). S.R.O. 50(I)/2019 sets a fine of ten percent of the duty and taxes on phones brought in against the rules; whether WeBOC uses it for DIRBS is not confirmed, so our calculator shows it next to the total and never adds it in.

Exchange rate

Sales tax is a percentage of the phone’s value in rupees, so the dollar rate matters. Under the Customs Act (sections 30A and 31A), goods cleared through the customs computer system use the exchange rate in force on the day before the duty is paid; we assume DIRBS registrations follow this. FBR’s exchange rates page points to the rates the National Bank of Pakistan releases. On 10 Oct 2026, FBR’s WeBOC duty calculator showed Rs 277.40 per US dollar.

For example, a phone valued at US$350 is in the 200 to 350 band. At Rs 277.40 per dollar its value is Rs 97,090, so sales tax is about Rs 17,476. On a passport the estimate is Rs 8,800 + Rs 1,800 + Rs 17,476 = Rs 28,076. On a CNIC, for someone on the Active Taxpayers List, add Rs 970 of income tax: Rs 29,046, before any fine.

Why calculators give different numbers

• Old tables. FBR’s DIRBS page still links a “Rate of Duty and Taxes on Mobile Phones” table for 2021-22. Several charges have changed since, the last time on 1 July 2026.
• Customs duty. A calculator that adds Rs 250 a set has used the Customs Tariff alone, without the Fifth Schedule’s 0%.
• The phone’s value. The charges depend on the phone’s customs value, which need not be the price you paid. FBR’s valuation rulings fix values for many models, but not for models launched after them, and how WeBOC matches an IMEI to a model and its value is not published.
• The exchange rate. It changes daily, and which rate WeBOC uses on the day is not confirmed.
• The sales tax base. The Sales Tax Act, section 2(46)(d), counts customs duties in the value of imported goods. If WeBOC adds the regulatory duty before working out sales tax, the tax is higher, by up to Rs 4,400 above US$500.
• Your tax status and the fine. On the CNIC route, the income tax doubles for people not on the Active Taxpayers List, and the fine is not confirmed.

When the official amount is different

The amount on your PSID is the one you pay, and the one that counts. Before you pay, check that the model and manufacturer in the PSID message match your phone (DIRBS SOP, clause 17.11). PTA’s DIRBS FAQs say tax questions go to FBR. If our estimate differs from your PSID, please tell us so we can check our table.

You can work out an estimate for your phone with our PTA tax calculator.