Over 7,000 sims unblocked after tax returns filed

Following a successful drive to block cellular services for non-taxpayers, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has claimed that over 7,000 SIMs were unblocked after individuals filed their tax returns. 

As part of a drive to collect tax, on May 14, the FBR directed major telecom companies to disable the SIMs of around 60,000 CNICs of non-filers. 

An FBR spokesperson, Bakhtiar Khan, said the bureau received tax returns from 7,167 persons for the year 2023. 

He added that the tax body had provided CNIC data to telecom companies in 12 batches, each containing 5,000 individuals. 

The number of tax return filers in the first batch was very low, but it increased until May 18, following the cellular data blockage drive. 

Following FBR directives, three companies - Jazz, Telenor, and Ufone - started blocking SIMs, while a fourth firm, Zong, approached the Islamabad High Court against Income Tax General Order No. 1 (ITGO-No. 1). 

Although the court stopped the government from taking action against the cellular service provider company, it did not issue a stay to stop blocking SIMs. 

On April 30, the FBR shared a comprehensive list of 506,671 individuals who failed to file tax returns.

Earlier, the FBR had begun physical inspections of telecommunication companies and imposed fines on some for non-cooperative behaviour. 

The inspection orders were issued under Section 175 of the tax ordinance by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue Zone 4.