The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has chosen to initiate legal action against telecom companies in case the SIMs of non-filers are not blocked by May 15.
Islamabad: FBR to initiate legal action against PTA. According to sources, the FBR has decided to move courts against the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and telecom companies if they fail to shut down the SIMs of more than 0.5 million non-filers.
Sources say that the FBR has started consultations with its legal team to move an application against the PTA and telecom companies.
It is important to note here that despite the passage of more than 10 days, telecom companies, including the PTA, have not yet implemented the orders to close the SIMs of non-filers.
Read More: PTA says considering FBR decision to block mobile SIMs for non-filers
The FBR had planned to bring the non-filers into the tax net by closing their mobile SIMs.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has refused the Federal Bureau of Revenue’s (FBR) demand to block the mobile phone SIMs of over half a million individuals who did not file tax returns in 2023, it emerged on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the FBR released a comprehensive list of 506,671 non-filers, adding that their mobile phone SIMs would be promptly blocked. The PTA and other telecom providers were ordered to comply with the decision.
The decision was issued in Income Tax General Order (ITGO) no 01 of 2024, which said that the mobile SIMs for these individuals would stay blocked until restored by the FBR or the Commissioner Inland Revenue.
In a declaration issued on Friday regarding enforcement of the ITGO, the PTA said its execution did not fall within its jurisdiction and thus the order would have “no legal binding effect” since it was inconsistent with the applicable legal framework.
