Customs Core: Tariff, Valuation, Declarations, Travel, Vehicles and DIRBS
This domain tests the working end of Pakistan Customs: classifying goods in the Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT), filing and processing a goods declaration, fixing value under section 25 of the Customs Act 1969, and handling the special regimes for passengers, vehicles and mobile devices.
Classification and declaration
- The PCT is aligned with the Harmonized System. Six digits are international; the extra two digits are national. Use the General Interpretative Rules in order: heading text and section/chapter notes first, then GIR 3 for competing headings, then GIR 4 and 6.
- The goods declaration (GD) carries the PCT code, value, quantity, origin and the claimed exemption. Consignments are processed in WeBOC and, increasingly, the Pakistan Single Window.
- Duty is assessed on the customs value, plus regulatory duty where notified, then sales tax and income tax at import are computed on the cumulative base.
Valuation
Section 25 starts from transaction value with additions for freight, insurance, commission, packing, royalties and assists, and deductions for post-importation costs. Where transaction value cannot be used, the fallback methods apply sequentially - identical goods, similar goods, deductive, computed, then the flexible method.
Worked example
CIF value USD 20,000 at an applicable rate of Rs 280 = Rs 5,600,000. Customs duty at 20% = Rs 1,120,000. Sales tax at 18% is charged on Rs 6,720,000 (value plus duty), i.e. Rs 1,209,600 - not on the CIF alone. Advance income tax at import is then applied to the same cumulative base.
Travel, vehicles and DIRBS
Baggage allowances, transfer-of-residence concessions for returning nationals, and used-vehicle entitlements depend on eligibility, minimum stay abroad and age limits of the vehicle. Handsets must clear PTA requirements; unregistered IMEIs are blocked by DIRBS.
Traps that cost marks
Applying sales tax to the CIF value only; forgetting freight and insurance in the assessable value; ignoring that a later GIR cannot override a section note; and treating a passenger allowance as a blanket duty exemption.