Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday clarified that it had not stopped the government from blocking the SIM (Subscriber Identity Modules) cards of tax non-filers after the federal government sought dismissal of the previous court order.
The previous order had only stopped the action against the mobile company, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq observed while hearing the appeal filed by Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan.
It was reported on May 12 that the FBR had sent notices to about 5,000 individuals, warning them that their mobile phone SIMs would be blocked if they did not file their returns.
However, two days later, the IHC temporarily restrained the government from blocking the SIMs on the petition of a private telecom company.
During today’s proceedings, Justice Farooq complained that the previous order was not reported accurately by the media.
The AGP mentioned that Section 144, related to taxation, offers comprehensive information. It is understood that individuals whose income does not fall under the tax net will not be issued notices. He further stated that details regarding the National Tax Number (NTN) were also clear.
The IHC CJ agreed that labourers would not be marked as non-filers. However, he added that problems arise when the Federal Board of Revenue ( FBR) start targeting everyone. “Everyone has to then go and plead their case. How many people will approach the FBR? You should have provided some regulations for the FBR too,” the judge remarked.
Justice Farooq then accepted the government’s appeal and issued notices for May 22.
Following this, the CJ questioned, “What will be done if the child of a person who does not fall under the tax net is using a SIM card registered under the father’s name? What will a poor man do who does not even have a SIM registered under his name?”
However, the AGP clarified that notices will not be issued to underprivileged people. He said the government has been issuing these notices since November 2023. The SIM card of people who respond to the notice or satisfy the FBR will be restored, he added.
The FBR, on April 30, issued legally binding instructions to the relevant departments to block mobile phone connections of over half a million non-filers, as its campaign to voluntarily register retailers also falls apart with only 75 retailers availing the scheme.
However, a few days later, the government’s order fell flat on its face after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) refused to implement it on the grounds that the order was inconsistent with the legal framework.
Instead the PTA–the telecom sector regulator – advised the FBR to focus on “awareness campaigns through SMS” – a source of income for the telecom companies. It has also asked the FBR to be careful about the “prevailing social norms”.
The PTA’s refusal marks the first challenge to the government and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) which was showing resolve to expand the narrow tax base to at least 6 million filers this year. Currently, less than 4.5 million people are filers of income tax returns as against the registered persons of over 10 million.
