ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani lawmaker campaigning to reduce heavy taxes on iPhones and other smart devices said on Tuesday the government has assured that a parliamentary committee will take up the issue next month and work toward a resolution.

Qasim Gilani, a National Assembly member and son of ex-premier and current Senate Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, has been lobbying across party lines to ease what he called “unjust and unaffordable” taxes on imported smartphones.

He said that modern devices, especially high-end phones used for work and digital income, are not a luxury item but a necessity for Pakistan’s youth and information technology sector.

Gilani said he had planned to move a resolution against the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority's (PTA) mobile registration tax in the National Assembly but held back after the government urged him to wait for an upcoming committee meeting.

“I have postponed the resolution against unjust PTA tax, which affects millions of Pakistanis, including overseas nationals,” he told Arab News. “The government assured me the issue will be resolved through a parliamentary committee where the FBR [Federal Board of Revenue] chairman will be present.”

The FBR is a government agency responsible for imposing taxes for revenue collection.

Gilani said the National Assembly's Finance Committee will take up the issue on Dec. 3 in the presence of relevant officials, adding he has already secured support from across the political spectrum, including Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and members of other parties.

He said he was also seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to build consensus that smartphone taxes should be reduced.

Elaborating his case, the lawmaker said the current tax structure on smartphones was excessive, citing his own experience.

“I paid half a million rupees in tax on just two phones, almost as much as I paid for my car registration," he said. "This is excessive.”

Gilani said he had taken up the matter with IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja and others, all of whom agreed the tax was problematic.

Pakistan’s mobile phone taxes are applied according to the device’s price and whether it is registered on a passport or a computerized national identity card (CNIC).

The amount that needs to be paid on a device registered on a CNIC is much higher.

The FBR website shows low-cost phones carry fixed charges ranging from Rs430 ($1.5) to Rs9,580 ($34). However, devices priced above $200 are taxed more heavily through a combination of a fixed amount plus a 17% sales tax.

A device priced above $500 requires a consumer to pay Rs27,600 ($98) plus 17% sales tax if registered on a passport, or Rs37,007 ($131) plus 17% sales tax if registered on a CNIC.

Overall, the system heavily penalizes expensive smartphones, making high-end devices significantly costlier in Pakistan.

According to Azhar Abbasi, an Apple reseller based in Islamabad, the current PTA tax on the iPhone 17 Pro Max is Rs213,631 ($756) on CNIC.

Asked about the situation, a senior FBR official told Arab News on condition of anonymity that these taxes on smartphones have led to increased local manufacturing.

“More than 95 percent of the 34 million handsets sold in Pakistan are now assembled locally, including Samsung models," he said. "Only 700,000 imported handsets came into the country last year, and just 10 percent of those were iPhones.”

The official acknowledged public frustration mainly arises from taxes on high-end phones, which represent only a small segment of the market, and added the government was working on reforms.