ISLAMABAD – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced a major facility, allowing people to pay sales tax on imported mobile phones, commonly known as PTA tax, in installments.
The board has made an addition ) in Procedures and Conditions of Ninth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 in Finance Act, 2026 to allow payment of sales tax on imported mobile phones on installments.
“A new sub-clause has been introduced under the heading, liability, procedur and conditions which will enable an individual and blocking system of PTA to pay sales tax on import of mobile phones in installments subject to the condition that all the installment shall be paid before the end of the financial year in which the import is made,” read the circular issued on 11 September 2026.
The installment will be paid by the citizens through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).
Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS), which was launched in 2018, is a system designed to identify non-compliant devices operating on local mobile networks.
It automatically registers compliant devices operating on the mobile networks and eventually blocks non-compliant devices.
