PTA Tax Instalments: FBR Allows Them, DIRBS Cannot Take Them Yet

FBR Circular No 1 of 2026, dated 11 September 2026, explains a new rule that lets an individual pay the sales tax on an imported mobile phone in instalments through DIRBS, as long as every instalment is paid before the financial year of import ends. The rule is in the Finance Act 2026 and has been law since 1 July. As of 17 September, DIRBS has no button for it, and PTA has not said when it will.

Walk into a phone market in Lahore or Karachi this week and someone will tell you that PTA tax instalments have started. They have not. What exists is a law, a circular that explains it, and a system that has not been built to take the money.

We read the Finance Act 2026 on FBR's own site. Clause (20) of the sales tax amendments adds a new sub-clause (vi) to the Ninth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, the schedule that sets the tax on phones. It reads: an individual liable to pay tax on an imported mobile phone device through DIRBS "may be allowed to pay tax in instalments as may be prescribed, subject to the condition that all the instalments shall be paid before the end of the financial year in which the import is made."

Two phrases carry the whole story. "May be allowed" means it is permitted, not automatic. "As may be prescribed" means somebody still has to write the procedure. The circular is the first step of that. The DIRBS mechanism is the second, and it is missing.

What did FBR Circular 1 of 2026 change?

The circular explains the Ninth Schedule rule and says instalments will run through PTA's Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System. It covers sales tax on imported phones, and it does not cut the amount. ProPakistani, PhoneWorld and Daily Pakistan reported it between 14 and 16 September.

We could not find the circular on fbr.gov.pk on 17 September. FBR's circular listings did not return a 2026 entry we could open, so the circular's contents are reported here from those three outlets, and the wording of the law is from the Act itself.

The circular came more than two months after the budget. The instalment facility was announced on 23 June 2026 as part of the Finance Bill, took effect on 1 July, and then sat with no procedure. ProPakistani noted on 23 August that nobody had said how many instalments, who qualifies, or how to pay. The circular answers the first question of who is responsible. It still does not answer the others.

Who runs PTA tax instalments, FBR or PTA?

FBR sets and collects the tax. PTA only runs DIRBS, the registration system that checks your phone's IMEI and blocks it if the tax is unpaid. That is why an instalment scheme needs both: FBR to prescribe it, and PTA to build the payment option into DIRBS.

PTA said this itself on 2 July 2026, in an advisory reported by PhoneWorld and ProPakistani. A notification was going round WhatsApp claiming mobile device taxes could now be paid in instalments. PTA called it "false and misleading" and said that assessment, levy and collection of taxes on mobile devices "fall solely under the jurisdiction of the Federal Board of Revenue." Its own role, it said, is limited to registration and compliance through DIRBS.

That advisory was correct in July and it is still correct now. The difference is that FBR has since acted. The thing PTA was asked to comment on in July, an FBR decision, has now happened. The thing PTA controls, the DIRBS option, has not.

The name "PTA tax" is what confuses people. The money goes to FBR. Our explanation of how to calculate PTA tax online shows how the total is built from customs duty, sales tax, regulatory duty and withholding tax, and it is worth knowing that the circular, as reported, names only the sales tax part.

What is live today and what is not?

The law is live, the circular is issued, and nothing else is. We opened DIRBS on 17 September and found the same three routes as before: register online, dial *8484#, or go to a franchise. There is no instalment option, no notice dated September 2026, and no change in how the tax is billed.

The one hard rule already fixed by the Act is the deadline. Every instalment must be paid before the end of the financial year in which the phone was imported. Pakistan's financial year ends on 30 June, so a phone brought in now would need its last instalment paid by 30 June 2027. A phone imported in May 2027 would get only until 30 June 2027, so the facility is worth much less late in the year.

How do you pay PTA tax today?

In full, against a Payment Slip ID. You apply on DIRBS, FBR generates a 17 digit PSID with the amount, you pay it at a bank within 7 days, and the phone is whitelisted once FBR confirms. The 60 day window from the day you first put a SIM in still applies.

We took these steps from PTA's DIRBS FAQ, updated 14 October 2025, which is the current version on pta.gov.pk.

1. Apply at dirbs.pta.gov.pk or dial *8484#, with your CNIC or passport, the SIM issued on it, and the phone's IMEI. Dual SIM phones have two IMEIs, and both need registering.
2. FBR generates the PSID and the amount. It arrives by SMS and is valid for 7 days.
3. Pay it at any commercial bank branch. The FAQ warns that online banking payments are the ones that most often fail to reach FBR, so a branch is the safer route.
4. Wait for the acknowledgement. The bank transmits the payment to FBR through 1-Link, and FBR confirms to DIRBS.
5. Check the IMEI at *8484# or on DIRBS. It should show as compliant.

Two things from the same FAQ that people ask about every week. There is no discount for registering within the 60 days; the window only decides whether a fine is added. And a phone that was used in Pakistan before does not get a fresh 60 days on a second visit.

Whether the tax is worth paying at all depends on the phone, and it has moved a lot this year. Our count of what changed in imported phone prices covers the direction, and the proposal to cut PTA tax by up to half is still a proposal.

What if a shop offers you PTA tax instalments now?

Treat it as the shop's own credit, not an FBR scheme, because there is no FBR scheme running. The tax still has to be paid in full against a PSID for the phone to be whitelisted. Anything else is a loan from the shop, or a trick.

Three versions of this offer are already common, and we have seen all three described by readers.

• The shop pays the PSID, you repay the shop monthly. This is legal, but it is a private loan. Get the PSID receipt in your own name and check the IMEI shows compliant before you leave. If the shop keeps the receipt, you have no proof.
• The shop "registers" the phone for a deposit and the rest later. Nothing happens on DIRBS for a deposit. The phone will block after 60 days and the deposit is gone.
• An agent on WhatsApp offers instalments through "PTA's new portal". This is the notice PTA called fake in July, still circulating. There is no such portal.

PTA's own buyer advisory, from February 2025 and still on its site, is blunt about it: pay personally through authorised banking channels, and be wary of intermediaries claiming to facilitate tax payments. The helpline is 0800-55055. The safest test is the one in our guide to registering a phone with PTA: if you cannot see a PSID with your own CNIC or passport on it, no tax has been paid.

What is still unknown?

Everything that decides whether the scheme is useful. The Act fixes only the deadline, and the circular, as reported, fixes only the tax it covers and the system it runs on.

1. How many instalments, and whether they are equal.
2. Whether there is interest, a surcharge or a fee, or the total is simply split.
3. Whether the phone is whitelisted after the first instalment or after the last. This is the question that matters most, because a phone blocked until the final payment gives you nothing.
4. What happens if an instalment is missed, and whether the phone is blocked again.
5. Whether customs duty, regulatory duty and withholding tax, which make up most of the bill on an expensive phone, are included or only the sales tax line.
6. When DIRBS will offer it.

Our own view is that the third question will decide the take up. If the phone works from the first instalment, this is a real change for anyone bringing in a flagship. If it is blocked until the last one, most people will pay in full anyway. We will update when PTA or FBR answers it.

Common questions about PTA tax instalments

Can I pay PTA tax in instalments today?

No. The law allows it and FBR has issued a circular, but DIRBS had no instalment option on 17 September 2026. Today you pay the full PSID at a bank.

Who announced PTA tax instalments?

Parliament, through the Finance Act 2026, in force from 1 July. FBR explained the rule in Circular No 1 of 2026 on 11 September. PTA has not announced anything and says tax matters are FBR's.

Is the PTA tax lower if I pay in instalments?

No. The reports of the circular say the facility only changes when you pay, not how much.

By when must all instalments be paid?

Before the end of the financial year in which the phone was imported. For a phone imported now, that is 30 June 2027.

Was the July notice about instalments real?

No. PTA said on 2 July 2026 that the notification was false and misleading. FBR's real circular came on 11 September.

Does the instalment rule cover the whole PTA tax?

The circular, as reported, covers sales tax on imported phones. Whether the other duties in the total are included has not been stated.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 17 September 2026. We read the Finance Act 2026 as published on FBR's download site, dated 26 June 2026, and quote clause (20) of its sales tax amendments, which adds sub-clause (vi) under Liability, Procedure and Conditions in the Ninth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, allowing an individual liable to pay tax on an imported mobile phone device through DIRBS to pay in instalments as may be prescribed, with all instalments paid before the end of the financial year of import. We read the DIRBS portal at dirbs.pta.gov.pk on 17 September 2026, which offers registration online, by *8484# and at franchises, links to FBR for duty information, and shows no instalment option and no notice dated September 2026. We read PTA's DIRBS FAQ dated 14 October 2025 on pta.gov.pk for the 17 digit PSID issued by FBR, its 7 day validity, bank payment transmitted through 1-Link, the 60 day window from first connectivity, the absence of any discount within that window and the fine for late registration. We read PTA's buyer advisory of 7 February 2025 on pta.gov.pk for the instruction to pay personally through authorised banking channels, the warning about unauthorised intermediaries and the helpline 0800-55055. FBR Circular No 1 of 2026 dated 11 September 2026, its explanation of the Ninth Schedule rule, its reference to DIRBS and its scope of sales tax are reported by ProPakistani on 14 September, PhoneWorld and TechJuice, and Daily Pakistan on 16 September 2026; we searched fbr.gov.pk and could not find the circular posted, so we have not read it. PTA's advisory of 2 July 2026 calling the viral instalment notification false and misleading and placing tax matters solely with FBR is reported by PhoneWorld on 2 July and ProPakistani on 3 July 2026; the direct link on pta.gov.pk did not open for us. The budget announcement of 23 June 2026 and the missing procedure as of 23 August are from ProPakistani. The number of instalments, any interest or fee, whether the phone is whitelisted before the last payment, whether other duties are included and the start date on DIRBS are not published anywhere we could find, and the article says so. Check dirbs.pta.gov.pk or call 0800-55055 before paying anyone for an instalment plan.