Non-filers to pay additional taxes on mobile top-up, bundles

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to impose an additional tax on non-filers as they would have to pay further taxes on mobile loads and bundles.

According to the details, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) devised a plan against non-filers which is likely to be implemented from May 15. The government would impose a 2.5 percent additional tax as well as withholding on non-filers.

It is also being considered to levy additional tax on every load and bring additional tax on mobile and data load. The data of non-filers was handed over to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The sources privy to the development said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has also decided to move to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the PTA and cellular companies as they turned down to block sims of the non-filers.

The FBR has already started consulting with its legal team to file the petition.

It is worth mentioning that earlier negotiations between the FBR and mobile companies regarding the blocking of SIM cards had failed.

Read More: PTA opposes blocking of 500,000 non-filers’ SIMs

Earlier on May 4, the PTA opposed blocking of sim cards of over 500,000 tax non-filers

In a letter to the FBR, the PTA stated that blocking these SIMs would not be in line with their system.

PTA noted that a large number of women use mobile SIMs which are registered against men’s names. They stated that no restrictions are being imposed on the issuance of new SIMs to non-filers.

The telecommunication authority also questioned the procedure for restoring the SIM cards of those who come under the tax net.

The authority clarified that they are not legally bound to block SIMs and blocking SIMs would also harm digitalization and the telecom economy.