Car Gift Scheme 2026: Sending a Car to Family in Pakistan, Rule by Rule

Many overseas Pakistanis dream of sending a car home. A Corolla for the family. A pick-up for the farm. A small car for a brother who drives to work in Lahore traffic every day.

The Gift scheme is now the main way to do it. The rules sit in Appendix-E of the Import Policy Order 2022, and they were tightened by S.R.O. 61(I)/2026 on 15 January 2026. This guide goes through them one by one, in plain words. For a shorter overview of both schemes and what changed, read our car import guide for 2026.

Who can send a car

Appendix-E says a "Pakistan National" can gift a vehicle. That means a Pakistani citizen living abroad. It includes dual nationals and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin who hold a Pakistan Origin Card (POC). It does not include minors.

Some people are left out, even if they live abroad:

• Students who receive money from Pakistan.
• Non-earning family members of an overseas Pakistani. For example, a wife or child living abroad with you who does not earn.
• Anyone who has imported, gifted or received a vehicle in the "last three years" (see the 850-day gap below).

The sender must also have stayed abroad for at least 850 days during the past three years. Before January 2026 this was 700 days.

Who can receive it

A car can be gifted only to a family member who is normally resident in Pakistan. Appendix-E gives a closed list of who counts as family:

The receiver is also caught by the gap rule. If your brother received a gifted car last year, he cannot receive another one from you now.

The two 850-day rules

People often mix these up, because both use the same number. Appendix-E has both:

1. Stay abroad. The sender must have been abroad at least 850 days in the past three years (clause 3(4)).
2. Gap since the last car. "Last three years" is defined as 850 days from the date the Goods Declaration (GD) for the last import under the Order was filed (clause 1(b)). Before 2026 it was 700 days.

Example (made-up dates): if the GD for your last gifted car was filed on 1 March 2025, 850 days later is 29 June 2027. Until then, neither you nor the family member who received that car can use the scheme again.

How old can the car be?

Age is not counted from the date on the registration papers. The Order says age runs from 1 January of the year after the year of manufacture until the shipment date on the bill of lading.

Example 1 (made-up): a car made in 2024 starts counting on 1 January 2025. If it is shipped on 10 December 2027, it is 2 years 11 months old. That is inside the 3-year limit.

Example 2 (made-up): a car made in 2022 starts counting on 1 January 2023. If it is shipped in February 2026, it is over 3 years old. It cannot come in as a gift.

So the shipping date matters. A delay at the port abroad can push a car over the limit.

How the duty must be paid

This is the rule that surprises most families. Duty and taxes cannot simply be paid from rupees in Pakistan. Clause 3(6) says they must be paid from foreign exchange, backed by a bank encashment certificate showing the foreign money was converted into rupees.

• The money must be sent from the sender's own account abroad.
• It must arrive in the sender's account in Pakistan. Only if that account does not exist or is not working can it go to a family member's account.
• If the rupee falls, or duty goes up, after the money arrives but before the GD is filed, the shortfall can be paid from local money.

Send the money through a bank, not hundi. Keep the bank's encashment certificate safe. For tips on rates and channels, see our guide to exchange rates.

Baggage allowances do not help here. The Customs Act says "baggage" does not include motor vehicles. The Baggage Rules also say FERC duty credit cannot be used for importing vehicles.

Papers Customs asks for

For the Gift scheme, a Goods Declaration is filed under section 79 of the Customs Act with:

• The CNIC of the receiver (the donee).
• The purchase receipt for the car.
• The bill of lading, showing the consignee's name and address.
• An attested copy of the sender's passport or Pakistan Origin Card.

Customs will also want proof for the other rules: the bank encashment certificate, and proof of your stay abroad. The Order does not list exactly which travel record they accept. Ask your agent.

After the car arrives

• No selling for one year. A gifted car stays non-transferable for one year from the date of import (new since January 2026).
• Standards. The safety and environmental standards that apply to commercial imports of used cars, as notified by the Ministry of Industries and Production or the Engineering Development Board, also apply to gifted cars.
• Ship from anywhere. The rule that the car must come from your country of residence now applies only to Transfer of Residence, not to gifts.

If something goes wrong

Appendix-E clause 6 gives a way out in some cases:

• If a car is brought in against the Order, the importer may be allowed to re-export it.
• If the duty is too high to pay, FBR can allow re-export, but only if no rule was broken at import.
• Stolen cars, tampered chassis numbers, or fake documents get no re-export. The car is confiscated and other penalties can apply.

Tractors and farm machines

Agricultural tractors, bulldozers, laser land levellers and combine harvesters can also be gifted, on the same conditions as vehicles. But the Order allows them under the Gift scheme only once every year.

Checklist before you buy a car abroad

1. Count your days abroad in the past three years. You need 850 or more.
2. Check the date of your last car GD, and the receiver's. You both need an 850-day gap.
3. Make sure the receiver is on the family list, is 18 or over, and lives in Pakistan.
4. Work out the car's age to the expected shipping date.
5. Ask a licensed customs agent if the model meets the current standards, and get a duty estimate.
6. Plan the remittance from your own account abroad, and get the encashment certificate.
7. Keep the purchase receipt, bill of lading and passport copy ready.

What we could not confirm

• Duty and tax amounts. We do not quote them. They depend on the model and change with each budget.
• Which standards apply. We did not find the current MOIP/EDB notification for commercial used-car imports. Your agent should know.
• Cars or "other vehicles". The Order sets 3 years for cars and 5 for other vehicles. Whether a particular SUV or 4x4 is treated as a car is decided by Customs. Ask before you buy.
• "Past three years" for the stay rule. The Order does not say which date the three years are counted back from (purchase, shipment or GD). Check with your agent.
• "Normally resident" and "non-earning". The Order does not define these or list the proof Customs wants.
• Later changes. We read the Order as consolidated up to S.R.O. 704(I)/2026 (April 2026). The Commerce Ministry has issued S.R.O.s 1085 and 1207 of 2026 since then. News reports on them mention no vehicle changes, but we did not read them in full.
• Our copy of the Order is a consolidated version hosted by CustomsPK, not the ministry's own site. The 2026 changes match the gazette text of S.R.O. 61(I)/2026.

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