The import of mobile phones has been increasing over the past few years. From luxury, it has now become a necessity. Records with the Department of Revenue and Customs shows the import of mobile phones has increased by more than double in 2020 compared to the previous year. Over 172,000 mobile phones worth Nu 1.6bn was imported last year.
The country imported only 73,000 mobile phones worth Nu 593 M in 2019. One reason for the increase in imports could be the tax exemption on the import of mobile phones.
The notification to exempt the tax for import of mobile phones became effective from January 16th last year. The 20 per cent customs duty and 10 per cent sales tax were waived for mobile importers.
“We did not import mobile phones from abroad in the past, since a 30 per cent tax was imposed then. We used to acquire our goods from India and some local dealers. But now, since there is no tax, I import it myself even from abroad, such as Dubai and the US. The prices have also gone down and my business is doing well,” said Khemnath Khatiwara, the Proprietor of Apple Solution.
“Before it was hard to make any profit or to even import mobile phones from abroad since we had to pay the 30 per cent tax. We could only afford to import from India since the tax was only 10 per cent. Since the tax has been lifted last year, I have started importing from Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Now we also deal in iPhones which we couldn’t sell before due to the very high price and little profit margin because of the taxes imposed,” said Tshering Dorji, the Proprietor of Lhendup Gashel Electronic.
According to the office of Revenue and Customs, the increase in the import of mobile phones can also be attributed to the adoption of e-learning by the education sector during the pandemic.
“This must have an impact on the e-learning that was taking place in schools because of the pandemic. Most schools were closed, so the beneficiaries would have been hopefully the school children,” said Kaysang W. Samdup, a Media & Communication Specialist with the Department of Revenue & Customs.
According to the Annual InfoComm and Transport Statistical Bulletin 2021, the number of mobile phone subscribers increased last year as compared to 2021. From nearly 730,000 subscribers, it reached to more than 745,000.
Yeshi Dorji
