The government has planned a series of retaliatory actions in the annual budget for FY2024-25 to punish individuals and businesses who do not file income tax returns, with the option of being lined from distant travel.

The minister projected the burden of a 75 percent tax on mobile balance refresh by non-filers, a move that aims at cheering people to become taxpayers.

The proposal recommends that the government intends to deduct Rs75 in taxes from each prepaid recharge of Rs100. This means that a non-filer user of prepaid SIM cards will receive only Rs25 out of Rs100 recharge.

The country’s monetary czar offered optional revisions, describing income tax reform as urgent. Muhammad Aurangzeb noted the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) recent adoption of income tax reforms and encouraged keeping the income tax exception for incomes up to Rs 600,000 per year.