To keep mobile phone prices within consumers’ purchasing power, import duties on mobile phones have been reduced. The import duty on mobile phones has been lowered from 25 per cent to 10 per cent.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a gazette notification to this effect on Tuesday. As a result, the existing import duty on mobile phones has been reduced by 60 per cent.
To ensure that local mobile phone assembling companies do not face adverse competition due to the reduced import duty, taxes on imported components used by these companies have also been lowered.
Under a separate gazette notification, the import duty on components for mobile phone assembling companies has been reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. This means that the existing import duty on components for mobile phone assembly has been cut by 50 per cent.
How much will costs decrease?
According to NBR calculations, the price of each imported fully built mobile phone with a value exceeding Tk 30,000 will decrease by approximately Tk 5,500.
Meanwhile, the price of each domestically assembled mobile phone priced above Tk 30,000 will fall by around Tk 1,500.
In a press release issued by the National Board of Revenue, it was stated that the significant reduction in import duties on mobile phones and on components for the mobile phone assembly industry will help keep the prices of all types of mobile phones within consumers’ purchasing capacity. This will also make it easier for citizens to access digital services.