Over half a million individuals who filed tax returns for 2023 will now have their SIM cards frozen by Pakistan’s officials. The mobile SIMs of 5, 06, 671 people who failed to file their taxes for 2023 will be frozen unless they are restored by the FBR or the commissioner of inland revenue having authority over the person, according to an income tax general order ( ITGO ).
It directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ( PTA ) and all other telecom companies to implement Income Tax General Order ( ITGO ) No 01 of 2024, which mandates that they must ban their SIM cards and produce a compliance report by May 15 according to Dawn.
2.4 million prospective citizens who were formerly unregistered have been discovered by FBR. These individuals were later served with observes, as per an official supply.
On the basis of one factor, the FBR chose about 0.5 million citizens out of 2.4 million for SIM blocking: they had not filed their tax returns for the tax year 2023 and had already declared taxable earnings in one of the previous three years.
The FBR’s novel simple action, which encourages low-income people to file their tax returns and increases the number of return filers, appears to be a good idea on paper.
( With inputs from agencies )
