Pakistan’s tax authorities announced on Thursday that, in an effort to increase the revenue bracket, it had disabled 210,000 SIM cards belonging to subscribers who had not submitted tax filings.
Out of the total population of around 240 million, just 5.2 million submitted income tax forms in 2022.
Following the edict’s passing in April, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) directed the telecoms authority to restrict the connections of 210,000 SIM cards; subsequently, 62,000 of those cards had their connections restored, based on data from the board.
According to FBR public relations representative Bakhtiar Muhammad, we have unblocked the SIMs of those who have made tax payments. Nobody shows up to pay taxes voluntarily. He went on, “We have to figure out how the people are going to pay their taxes.”
The telecoms regulator reports that there are four telecom service providers and over 192 million cellular users in the nation.
An anonymous representative from one of the four telecom firms told AFP that “access to telecom services is a basic human right as well as crucial for many other fundamental services, including the availability of information, education, and emergency services.”
“We are in discussion with the authorities, convincing them to use tech to help increase the collection of taxes, as abrupt measures could disrupt the delivery of these critical services,” they stated.
The nation in South Asia is beset with an economy that is mostly undocumented, which makes it difficult for it 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.