ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday criticized the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) policy of mobile phone SIM cards blocking and termed it as useless.
In a tweet on his social media account, Khawaja Asif said that blocking mobile SIMs of tax evaders will not have much impact.
فون کی سم sim بند کرنا زیادہ اثر نہیں کرے گا۔ آج کل لوگ فون پہ ٹیکس بچانے کے لئے پہلے ہی بغیر سم کے WiFiپہ فون چلا رہی ھیں۔ سم بند کرنا اتنی بڑی بیماری کا Panadol سے علاج کرنے کے مترادف ھے۔ ٹیکس چوروں کے خلاف اعلان جنگ ھونا چاہئیے ۔ یہ لاڈ پیار والے اقدامات بھی بد دیانتی ھے۔…
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) May 22, 2024
He gave an example of the cigarette industry and noted that tax evasion in the cigarette industry is more than Rs300 billion annually.
Khwaja Asif said that countering huge tax evasion by blocking SIMs is like treatment of a “severe disease with a Panadol tablet”.
Khwaja Asif Urges for Strict Action
These pampering actions are actually dishonesty and war should be declared against tax evaders, the minister added.
He also said that to avoid taxes on phones, people use mobile phones on WiFi without mobile phone SIMs.
