Rubina Sohail is a widowed housewife and non-filer. She sews people’s clothes and runs the household.
Some money has been saved for the elder daughter’s dowry. She was thinking of opening a bank account and depositing this amount in a mutual fund.
Meanwhile, he saw the news on TV that FBR plans to abolish the non-filer category and impose more restrictions on those who do not file tax returns.
Those who do not file tax returns will not be able to open an account in any bank in Pakistan, will not be able to buy property, car, invest in mutual funds and above all they will not be able to travel abroad.
After hearing about the tax filer’s condition to play the account, she gets worried because she doesn’t know any taxman.
He says, ‘If the government wants to keep the condition of the filer, then it should also provide a tax lawyer at the government level to register a poor and simple housewife like me in the tax net and file the tax return.’
If the government does not provide this facility, they will prefer to keep the money safe at home.
Farhan Mehmood lives in a hostel in Lahore for education. He belongs to Bahawalpur. They plan to open a bank account to collect next semester’s fees from home.
But after hearing the new conditions, they are worried. They say I have no income, yet it makes no sense for me to be a tax filer.
They have heard that the taxpayers are harassing, notices are coming and FBR withdraws money from the bank account.
They say that it is better to bring cash from home and pay the fees for the next semester instead of getting into so much trouble.
Shahid Akram along with his two children and wife plans to visit UK for New Year in December.
His wife and children are not filers. They want to buy tickets nowadays but they are confused after the announcement of Chairman FBR.
He says that the FBR should soon formulate a policy that if the head of a family is a filer, will it be necessary for the wife and children to be filers or not?
If wife and children are also required to file, it will be difficult to implement and their trip to London will be spoiled.
Bilal Aslam owns the factory and does imports and manufacturing. His business is registered and he is also a filer.
They are happy with the government’s decision. He says, ‘The term non-filer is ridiculous. It has become a major source of laundering black money.
Factories worth billions of rupees are bought by paying a little more tax and there is no question about where the money came from. It is possible that black money can be brought into the system with this decision.
Overseas Pakistanis are also worried after hearing about the new policy. Mian Safdar lives in UK. He is a non-filer and has invested in mutual funds in Pakistan.
He is disturbed by this news and is wondering if FBR will block his account. They say that if this happens, they will lose crores of rupees.
Former Chairman FBR Shabar Zaidi told Independent Urdu that ‘Non-filer is nothing. A thief must be called a thief. Allowing non-filers to do everything is wrong.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
‘There is no such term used in the whole world. The government has taken this best decision. When I was Chairman FBR, I also completed the term of non-filer.
But the PTI government could not bear the pressure and reinstated the term. Now it is to be seen whether the present government can bear the pressure or not.
He further said that there are three types of people in the country. One is a filer, the other is a non-filer and the third is those who are not required to submit returns. It is important to differentiate between them, otherwise innocent people will be surrounded unnecessarily.’
According to former general secretary of Lahore Tax Bar Association, Abdul Waheed, ‘It is possible that the government will get some benefit from this process, but there are also fears of loss.’
He said, ‘1.33 billion withholding tax was collected in the last financial year, out of which Rs. 423 billion was not claimed.
It is claimed that non-filers have deposited Rs 423 billion in taxes. If these non-filers are made filers, according to an estimate, 1500 billion rupees of tax can be easily collected from them.
“But if these non-filers could not be made filers, they may have to lose the tax of about 423 billion rupees.”
Former president Pakistan Tax Bar Association Mohsin Nadeem said that tax compliance in middle income groups in Pakistan is 94% while the tax compliance of one percent rich class is only 29%.
‘That is why it is more important to tax the rich class. Abolishing the non-filer term will affect the rich rather than the poor. New measures may increase the chances of increasing the tax base.’
#abolition #nonfilers #category #affect #common #man
2024-09-28 21:11:27
