STAFF REPORT IBD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has slapped tax on mobile phone and SIM which will fetch Rs. 150 on a phone having camera on front and rear side and a screen size of up to 4.2 inches or processor power less than 2 GHz.
According to a notification issued by FBR, Rs. 500 tax would be imposed on the phone having a camera of 10 megapixels or higher, a touchscreen larger than 4.2 inches, and a dual-core processor.
It also explained that BlackBerrys and phones running iOS, Android 2.3 or higher, or Windows 8 will automatically incur a Rs. 500 sales tax. Similarly, tax of Rs. 150 would be imposed on a SIM.
According to mobile phone market experts, imposition of these taxes would hamper the import of the growth of cell phone and arrival of new technology to the country. They also mentioned that the government has repeatedly delayed the launch of 3G technology on one pretext or the other, the FBR notification of taxes would further delay the launch of the new technology in the country.