Business

Duties were temporary steps to curb imports: FBR

AnyFans 2025-09-21

By Sohail Sarfraz

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced that Regulatory duties and Additional Customs duties imposed through Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) were temporary measures introduced primarily to curb imports and address the worsening current account balance.

This has been disclosed by the FBR in its annual Tax Expenditure Report 2025.

The report revealed that despite their temporary nature, exemptions granted under these duties are treated as deviations from the benchmark rates for the purposes of this report.

Duty relief, concessions: FBR suffers Rs161bn revenue loss in FY24

The statutory rates for Customs Duty (CD), Regulatory Duty (RD), and Additional Customs Duty (ACD) have been established as the benchmark rates for this analysis. It is important to note that customs-related exemptions and concessions are typically subject-specific, varying based on the nature of the goods or services involved.

In the calculation process, any deviations from the statutory rates have been classified as exemptions or concessions. These deviations represent instances where the effective duty rate is different from the benchmark, indicating preferential treatment or special provisions.

For the purpose of calculating Customs Expenditure, the period under consideration is the fiscal year 2023-24. This timeframe has been selected to assess the relevant Customs duties and their impact on government revenue and expenditures, the report added.