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Expats travelling back to Pakistan have expressed concern and confusion at the new one phone tax-free policy introduced by the government.
According to the new policy, overseas Pakistanis can take only one phone in a year without paying customs duty and a maximum of five can be taken per year as per personal baggage rules. But they will have to pay duty on the four extra handsets.
Also, if people are purchasing a new phone or carry any phone that they wish to install a SIM in and activate after December 1, 2018, they must send its IMEI number to 8484 to know about its legal status. The IMEI number can be found out in the mobile's box or by dialling *#06#.
Mohammed Zia, who travelled last week from Dubai to Islamabad said: "I recently travelled to Pakistan with only one phone a Samsung J7 which is a budget phone for Dh800 and was my set and had to pay a tax of Pak rupees 10,000. How is this fair?, he questioned.
A number of other travellers complained about lack of registration counters at the airport. Khurram Shehzad, a Dubai resident said there were no registration counters at the airport. "It was a nightmare to register because there is no defined process to it," he said, adding that since he came back to Dubai within 10 days, he did not register his phone.
"I travelled to Pakistan on December 4 but could not get the phone registered at the airport due to lots of confusion at the desk," said Nouman Rasool.
Many others said that most people carried more than two sets for their personal use. "Normally overseas Pakistanis have 2-3 mobile phones for personal use. One with international SIM and one they use with a local SIM, so why should I pay tax on my second set," questioned Aamir Ali.
"If a family is travelling, will each person by allowed a tax free phone or will only one be allowed for the family?," asked Abdul Basit.
Due to the huge feedback from the Overseas Pakistanis, Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development said on Friday that the government is considering a reduction on the tax and also the possibility of allowing two duty free phones.
"We are listening to overseas Pakistanis and will do our best to facilitate Pakistanis around the world," he said.
Pakistan's Minister of State for Revenue, Hammad Azhar while clarifying the new policy for people travelling into Pakistan from abroad said earlier in a series of tweets: "One phone is allowed to be registered as duty free. No registration/duty needed on any phone (s) using roaming. No registration/duty needed if phone (s) to be used in Pakistan for less than 30 days. Also, no registration or duty required on any phone that was activated or ever used in Pakistan before December 1, 2018."
"Duties and registration can be done at either the airports or any of the Custom Houses across Pakistan. Phones are not detained during the process of registration or duty payments," he said.
The government is also working on an app through which travellers can register their devices beforehand.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
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