How to Calculate PTA Tax on Your Phone in Pakistan

The only exact PTA tax figure for your phone comes from PTA's DIRBS system. Apply at dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs, or dial *8484# from a SIM registered on your own CNIC or passport, and enter the phone's IMEI. FBR then issues a payment slip, called a PSID, showing the tax. You do not have to pay it: an unpaid PSID is deleted after 7 days. To see the value FBR taxes your model on before you apply, use the PTA tax value checker.

We read PTA's DIRBS portal and its full FAQ page, FBR's mobile device page and the rate sheet it links, on 22 September 2026. Private "PTA tax calculators" give a rupee figure that no official body stands behind. Below is how the real figure is worked out and how to get it free.

Four things decide your PTA tax

The phone's condition does not matter. FBR's Valuation Ruling 2076 of 2026, which the value checker uses, says its values for used phones apply regardless of grade or condition. A scratched phone is valued the same as a perfect one.

How to get your exact PTA tax figure for free

1. Find the IMEI. Dial *#06# on the phone. A dual SIM or eSIM phone shows two IMEIs; you need both.
2. Check its status. Send each IMEI by SMS to 8484. If it says the phone is compliant, there is no tax to pay.
3. Apply on DIRBS. Open dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs and create an account, or dial *8484# from a SIM on your own CNIC or passport. You can also apply at any mobile operator's franchise or service centre.
4. Enter your details. A traveller enters passport number, CNIC or NICOP if they have one, a SIM number issued on that passport or CNIC, and the IMEIs. A local applicant uses CNIC instead.
5. Read the PSID. FBR generates a Payment Slip ID with the tax amount. This is your exact figure.
6. Decide. Pay within 7 days, or let it lapse. PTA's FAQs say an unpaid PSID is deleted automatically after 7 days, and you can apply again later.

PTA's FAQs say you can delete a pending application yourself up to five times. After that, you have to ask PTA to reset the counter through its complaint portal. So do not apply and delete over and over just to watch the figure.

What FBR's own rate sheet shows

FBR's mobile devices page links a document called "Rate of Duty and Taxes on Mobile Phones". When we opened it on 22 September 2026, it was headed 2021-22. It is out of date: rates have changed in later budgets. We show it only because it is the official way FBR lays the tax out, and the shape has not changed.

Do not use these rupee figures to budget. Use them to understand three things that still hold. First, the tax jumps in steps as the phone's value crosses each slab. Second, above a certain value a percentage is added on top of the fixed amount, so dear phones cost much more. Third, the CNIC route costs more than the passport route at every slab.

Working it out for your own phone

Put the model into the PTA tax value checker to see its assessed value. Then see which slab that value falls into.

• A used iPhone 13 is assessed at $225 under Ruling 2076 of 2026. That puts it in the $200 to $350 slab, even if you paid much less.
• A used Galaxy S23 Ultra is assessed at $305, in the same slab.
• A used iPhone 15 Pro Max is assessed at $505. That is just over the $500 line, in the top slab.

The last example shows why the assessed value matters more than the price. Five dollars of assessed value moves the phone into the most expensive slab. The ruling covers old and used phones only, so a new sealed phone is valued separately.

The final rupee figure also depends on the exchange rate on the day, which is why DIRBS is the only exact source. The same applies to PTA tax on 5G phones.

Rules that change what you pay

• No discount for applying early. PTA's FAQs say FBR gives no discount for registering within 60 days. What you lose after 60 days is the cheaper passport rate.
• No free phone. FBR withdrew the free baggage exemption on 30 June 2019. Every phone registered pays duty.
• No exemptions by status. PTA's FAQs say filers, students, government employees and staff of Pakistani missions abroad all pay the same.
• Short visits. Overseas Pakistanis and foreigners can get temporary registration for 120 days from arrival, for one device, locked to one SIM in their own name. It is a separate facility from normal registration with duty.
• Instalments. The Finance Act 2026 allows PTA tax to be paid in instalments, but when we checked on 17 September 2026, DIRBS could not take them yet.

After you pay: confirm the phone is registered

1. Pay the PSID yourself, at a bank or through online banking, to finish registering the phone with PTA.
2. The payment goes to FBR through 1-Link. When FBR confirms it, your application changes from Pending to Approved.
3. Send the IMEI to 8484 again to check its PTA status. It should now show as registered.
4. If the phone was already blocked, PTA says registered IMEIs are sent to operators for unblocking every hour.

When DIRBS gives an error

• "IMEI already exists". The phone is either already compliant, or has a pending application. Delete the pending one in your DIRBS account, or wait 7 days for it to lapse.
• Paid, but the application was deleted. Apply again and send PTA the new application, the old PSID, proof of payment and the IMEI through its complaint portal.
• Paid the wrong PSID. PTA says it cannot refund this. Go to FBR directly.
• One SIM slot registered, the other not. Complain to PTA under "One Slot Compliant/One Non-compliant". If the maker confirms both IMEIs belong to the phone, PTA says the second is registered without FBR duty.
• "Invalid GSMA TAC". The IMEI is not a genuine one. PTA will not register it.

Safety warning: Pay only against a PSID generated from your own application, through your own bank. PTA has warned buyers against middlemen who "register" phones for a fee. To check that nobody has used your passport to register phones, dial *8484# and look at the device count against it. If you see phones you did not register, complain to PTA under Misuse of Credentials. PTA's DIRBS helpline is 0800-55055.

Common questions

How can I calculate PTA tax on my phone?

Apply on DIRBS with the IMEI. The PSID it generates shows the exact tax, and you can let it lapse if you do not want to pay.

Is there an official PTA tax calculator?

No official calculator gives the final figure. PTA's DIRBS portal links to FBR's mobile device duty page, and FBR's own linked rate sheet is from 2021-22. DIRBS is the reliable source.

Is PTA tax cheaper on a passport?

Yes. FBR's rate sheet has a lower passport rate for phones registered within 60 days of arrival. On a CNIC, or after 60 days, you pay more.

Does the price I paid affect the tax?

No. For used phones, customs uses the value set in FBR's valuation ruling for the model, whatever you paid.

How long is a PTA tax PSID valid?

Seven days. After that it is deleted automatically if unpaid.

How long can I use a phone without paying PTA tax?

Sixty days from the day a SIM is first put in it. PTA says the 60 days are not renewed if you bring the same phone back on a later visit.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 22 September 2026. The registration routes, *8484#, the SMS check on 8484, the 7 day PSID validity, the five deletion limit, the 60 day rule and its non-renewal, the absence of discounts for early registration, filers, students, government and mission staff, the 120 day temporary registration, 1-Link payment, hourly unblocking, the error fixes and the passport misuse check are from the FAQ page of PTA's DIRBS portal at dirbs.pta.gov.pk, which also carries the 0800-55055 helpline. The withdrawal of the baggage exemption on 30 June 2019 is from the same FAQs. The rate sheet is FBR's document "Rate of Duty and Taxes on Mobile Phones", linked from FBR's Mobile Devices Regularization page on fbr.gov.pk; it is headed 2021-22 and we quote it only to show the structure. FBR's page also links SRO 50(I)/2019, SRO 51(I)/2019 and Customs General Order 01 of 2024. The assessed values are from FBR Valuation Ruling 2076 of 2026, issued on 22 April 2026, as loaded in our value checker. PTA's warning about intermediaries is from its advisory of 7 February 2025, as we recorded it on 17 September 2026. We could not find a current rate sheet on FBR's site, so we give no current rupee figure. We did not register a phone.