FBR to block sims and cut electricity, gas meters of  Non-Filers

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has stepped up its efforts to expand Pakistan's tax network, taking drastic measures to increase taxpayer enrollment.

To achieve this objective, FBR collects information about taxpayers by leveraging third-party data sources. The data will be used to identify non-compliant persons and decide to disconnect electricity and gas meters and block mobile SIM cards of non-compliant persons.

The Federal Reserve has set ambitious goals to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio, an important indicator of any country's economic framework, to the desired level. Although there are approximately 2.2 million taxpayers, the number of applicants is far less than this number.

The FBR emphasized the importance of collaboration between agencies and departments and the need for these agencies to provide data through an automated transmission system. It is hoped that this joint effort will increase Pakistan's tax base significantly.

Recognizing the importance of tax compliance, especially by extending the last date for tax submission, the FBR has extended the last date for filing income tax till December 31. The extension is designed to give taxpayers enough time to meet their obligations and contribute to the country. Financial system.

FBR has also devised a strategy to cut off electricity connections of unregistered people. Currently, FBR does not have complete data on electricity connections of non-filers. FBR is concerned that disconnection of electricity connections may lead to legal problems.

Federal Board of Revenue creates history by collecting Rs.1021 Billion in December, 2023 and after adjusting refunds of Rs.38 billion issued during the month, reached net collection of Rs.984 billion. Targets for the month as well as for the first six months of the current financial year were also surpassed. Target for the first six months was Rs.4425 billion (as agreed with IMF), which was surpassed by 43 billion and recorded collection of Rs.4468 billion. FBR in the corresponding six months of the previous year collected Rs.3428, thus registering an increase of more than 1 Trillion. This is despite the fact that refunds of Rs.230 billion have been issued against Rs.177 billion issued during corresponding period of the previous year and continuous import compression

According to an official statement issued by the Fed, the targets for the first and six months of the fiscal year were also increased.