ISLAMABAD: New return forms for salaried individuals, association of persons (AoPs) businesses, and business individuals for the tax year 2024 have been announced by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
An SRO949 of 2024, which was made public on Thursday, served as notification of the electronic copies of returns for certain categories. The income tax regulations have also been modified by FBR through this notice.
The FBR has also provided manual income tax return forms for individuals for the tax year 2024 through another notification, SRO0950. Additionally, the FBR announced changes to the income tax regulations on Thursday.
210,000 SIM cards are blocked.
According to AFP, the FBR announced on Thursday that it had disabled the SIM cards of 210,000 subscribers who had not submitted tax returns in an effort to increase the revenue bracket.
Due to incomplete returns, 210,000 SIM cards were prohibited.
Out of the almost 240 million people, just 5.2 million submitted income tax forms in 2022.
According to the board’s data, the FBR passed the edict in April and has since ordered the telecoms authority to ban the connections of 210,000 SIM cards; 62,000 of them were later restored.
“Those who have paid their taxes have their SIMs unblocked,” stated Bakhtiar Muhammad, a public relations representative for FBR.
“No one shows up willingly to pay taxes. It is necessary to provide means for the public to pay their taxes. The Telecom Authority of Pakistan states that there are four telecom service providers and over 192 million mobile phone users.
Pakistanis are required to register a SIM card—which is frequently used for several connections—with their national identity number.
An anonymous representative of one of the four telecom companies told AFP that “access to telecom services is a basic human right and essential for many other fundamental services, including access to information, education, and emergency services.”
“We are in communication with the relevant authorities, persuading them to employ technology in order to augment tax revenue, since precipitous actions may impair the delivery of these indispensable services.”
Pakistan’s economy is mostly undocumented, which makes it difficult for the country to grow its pitifully small income base.
In an effort to assist balance its books, the government has been pressuring the IMF for more loans, but the organization prefers that Islamabad take more steps to mobilize its own resources.
“This is a ridiculous action. “Not every SIM owner makes enough money to be considered a taxpayer,” digital rights campaigner Fareiha Aziz told AFP.
“This is an overreach, people’s livelihoods are tied to their phones.” In a letter sent in June to the ministry of information technology, the four telecoms companies expressed concern that the new tax laws targeting cellphone users who do not file taxes were “impractical” and “non workable” and would deter international investment.
