AliExpress Adds Heavy Taxes at Checkout for Pakistani Customers Despite Roll Back of Digital Levy

Pakistani online shoppers have started noticing significant tax additions on AliExpress orders, with some cases showing taxes exceeding 70 to 80 percent of the product value. The popular Chinese e-commerce platform has started listing separate tax amounts at checkout for buyers in Pakistan. For instance, a $36.96 order on AliExpress added $25.87 in taxes at checkout — pushing the total cost to $62.83, an increase of more than 70%. The development follows the federal government’s decision earlier this year to bring global e-commerce imports under the tax net. Authorities had instructed platforms such as AliExpress and Temu to collect taxes at the source to curb unregulated cross-border trade and boost domestic revenue. But the development is interesting because the government had earlier introduced a 5% digital presence tax on foreign e-commerce platforms — only to roll it back later. Though the 5% levy is withdrawn, AliExpress has started adding separate tax charges, especially on smaller cross-border imports. Under the rollback, the digital presence tax will not apply to goods and services supplied from outside Pakistan, effective retroactively from July 1, 2025. Industry observers say the move appears to have taken effect first on AliExpress, while Temu has not yet added any visible tax component at checkout for Pakistani users. However, the sharp rise in checkout totals has sparked frustration among frequent online buyers, who argue that the new system makes affordable small imports significantly more expensive. AliExpress has not issued an official statement yet, but the tax breakdown shown on its checkout page notes that “taxes are listed separately under ‘Tax’ at checkout” for some products. Analysts say the change could discourage small e-commerce purchases from overseas and push consumers toward local marketplaces instead.