ISLAMABAD
\nAs Pakistan eyes boosting its tax revenues in budget 2024-25, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chief has said that electricity and gas connections of the non-filers will be suspended along with SIMs.
\nIn a latest development, the Senate\u2019s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Saturday okayed the proposal to impose a foreign travel ban on non-filers. A series of decisions were made in today\u2019s session of the Senate body held under the chair of Saleem Mandviwalla.
\nFBR Chairman Zubair Tiwana informed the upper house body that those who failed to file tax returns would face actions under the Income Tax General Order (ITGO), however, exemptions would be given to nationals for Hajj, Umrah, children, students and holders of National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP).
\nHe detailed that non-filers will face suspension of their SIM cards, electricity and gas connections, as well as their businesses could be shut down.
\nDuring the session, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farooq H Naek stressed that the travel restrictions on non-filers should be executed in the same way which were enforced on those who came under the category of exit control list (ECL).
\nTiwana further said that a higher withholding tax rate was approved for the non-filers. He added that the non-filer list included 500,000 people with over 2 million in annual income.
\nHe added that the listed individuals had already disclosed their income statements with their tax return documents in the past. The FBR\u2019s top officer said that temporary filers will also have to pay additional tax during the purchases of vehicles, plots and residences.
\nAdditionally, the Senate body also approved a proposal to reduce the salary slab and hike tax besides, approving the imposition of a 75% withholding tax on cellular and internet bills of non-filers.
\nEarlier this week, Finance Minister Aurangzeb emphasised the need for widening the tax net, saying that the country cannot run with a 9.5% tax-to-GDP ratio.
\n\u201cWe have to bring everyone into the tax net. We are aiming to bring everyone on the active taxpayers\u2019 list,\u201d said the finance czar.
\n\u201cWe have to abolish the non-filer category in the country,\u201d he added.
\nHis statement comes hours after he unveiled the federal budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the National Assembly, with a total outlay of Rs18.9 trillion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD As Pakistan eyes boosting its tax revenues in budget 2024-25, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chief has said that electricity and gas connections of the non-filers will be suspended along with SIMs. In a latest development, the Senate\u2019s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Saturday okayed the proposal to impose a foreign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"yoast_head":"\n