Unblocking of cellphone SIMs: FBR to share compliant taxpayers’ list with telcos

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will automatically communicate the list of taxpayers who have filed their income tax returns to the telecom companies for unblocking their mobile phone SIMs.

On the directives of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), the FBR Thursday issued a standard operating procedure for the issuance and implementation of Income Tax General Order under section 114B of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

According to the FBR’s SOP on reactivation of service, the concerned Service Provider will then reactivate the service within 1 to 2 business days.

Reactivation of SIMs of non-filers: FTO directs FBR to issue SOP for guidance

In case, a taxpayer has filed his Income Tax Return for theconcerned tax year, and his mobile phone service remains suspended within the next 3 business days; or has any other objection regarding the suspension of his service etc; he should convey his grievance to the concerned Commissioner, who shall analyze the case in detail and report to Board for resolution of the matter, if the grievance is genuine or contact the office of the issuing authority of the concerned ITGO.

Following standard operating Procedure is to be observed for the issuance and implementation of Income Tax General Order under Section 114B of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001:

Identification and Verification of Non ATL persons: List of Non-filers for a certain tax year under various benchmarks will be extracted from the database of FBR through PRAL and the same will be communicated to the field formations for further scrutiny. Verification Regarding Issuance of notice u/s 114 and Non-Filer status

from the Field Formations: Upon communication to the field formations, verification will be sought regarding eligibility of cases to be included in the Income Tax General Order. Chief Commissioners will be requested to verify if all the legal and codal formalities have been fulfilled in all regards.

Issuance of Certificate by concerned Chief Commissioners Regarding Non-Filer Status: A certificate will be issued by all Chief Commissioners along with the list of cases to be included in the Income Tax General Order, verifying and validating the eligibility of all the included cases.

Issuance of Income Tax General Order by Federal Board of Revenue:

An Income Tax General Order will be issued by the Board entailing one or all the consequences stipulated in Section 114B(2) with clear direction to the relevant service providers for immediate implementation of the issued order.

Communication of ITGO to the concerned Service Providers: TheIncome Tax General Order (ITGO) will be formally communicated to the concerned service providers including telecommunication operators and utility companies. The service providers shall be directed to implement the ITGO with immediate effect, and a compliance report shall be sought from them within a specified timeframe.

Procedure to be adopted in case of non-compliance: In case of non-compliance, legal course of action will be taken against the service provider as per the provisions of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 including but not limited to prosecution under Section 196 and imposition of penalty under section 182 of the Income Tax Ordinance ,2001.

Monitoring of Enforcement Outcome: The enforcement of the ITGO will be monitored by a dedicated team within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). This team will track compliance, gather data on the effectiveness of the order, and report on the outcomes. Regular updates will be provided to the higher authorities, the FBR added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024