According to sources who spoke with Geo News on Tuesday, there is a proposal in the government budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2024–2025 to raise the tax on imported mobile phones.
It was also suggested, according to sources within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to raise the tax levied by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and impose Federal Excise Duty on imported cell phones, one day prior to the budget’s formal presentation.
The sources added, “In addition to this, the finance bill also proposes raising the GST on mobile phone imports.”
They did, however, note that the 25% GST already in place made it impossible to impose more GST.
In the budget on Wednesday, the coalition government is anticipated to set forward its financial goals.
According to commentators, the administration is hoping to submit a budget that will bolster Pakistan’s position in negotiations for a fresh bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In order to prevent its economy from going into default, Pakistan is in negotiations with the IMF for a loan estimated to be worth between $6 billion and $8 billion.
Pakistan barely avoided defaulting last summer because of a $3 billion, nine-month IMF bailout.
Its external and fiscal deficits have been reduced, but at the cost of severe declines in industrial and growth activities and high inflation, which averaged nearly 30% in the previous fiscal year and 24.52% in the previous 11 months.
The expansion
