The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to block 500,000 mobile phone SIMs of tax evaders as the decision has been endorsed by its chairman. In this regard, the FBR has sent relevant rules to the officers concerned.
According to sources, the FBR has identified two million tax evaders, but mobile service providing companies requested the tax authority that they could not afford to block such a large number of SIMs. In response to the request, it was decided that 500,000 mobile phone SIMs of tax evaders would be blocked.
Pakistan has a very low tax-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio of less than 10%, which is way below the regional average. The government needs to boost revenue receipts to meet its growing expenditures, which have forced it to make huge borrowing, resulting in accumulation of an unsustainable debt.
The government can increase tax collection through targeting the untapped sectors and nabbing the tax dodgers.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also asked Pakistan to raise its tax collection, which will be helpful in curtailing the government’s burgeoning budget deficit.
