Right now the biggest point of discussion in Pakistan is that of filers and non-filers where the government is giving time again and again to the people to file their taxes. However, on the other hand, the FBR is also taking the hard decisions in order to bring in more people in the tax bracket and get more income from taxes. As part of this campaign, the FBR has written to the Power Ministry to refuse connections to people who are income tax non-filers. The letter was written by FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi to seek help from the Power Ministry.
The letter was written by the chairman under Section 181AA of the Income Tax Ordinance of 2001 which states that any industrial or commercial connection of gas and electricity should not be provided and processed unless the person is an income tax filer. Thus the chairman FBR has made it clear to the power distributing companies that only those people who are on the Active Tax Payers List will be provided with a gas or electricity connection. Anyone who isn’t in this list will not be provided the connection and there will be no reprieve for anyone as FBR looks to make it tough for the non-tax payers.
The PTI led government has been making efforts to increase the tax base of the country so that the overall tax income could increase. In order to facilitate people who want to file tax, Shabbar Zaidi said that they have increased the date of filing income tax returns for the year 2018. The last date for submission of returns is now 2nd August 2019. The efforts of the FBR and government are showing results as for the first time the income tax filers in the country have crossed the two million mark.
