New bill aims to tighten noose on tax evaders

The government on Wednesday introduced a bill in the National Assembly aimed at granting tax authorities sweeping powers to enforce compliance with tax laws, including measures to prohibit the opening of bank accounts for non-compliant individuals, restrictions on their financial activities and the purchase of vehicles over 800cc, as well as the threat of sealing unregistered businesses. The Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2024, introduced by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, proposes amendments to a slew of tax-related laws, such as the Sales Tax Act 1990, ICT (Tax on Service) Ordinance 2001 and Income Tax Ordinance 2001. The proposed piece of legislation seeks to do away with the existing terms of ‘filers, non-filers and late filers’ by replacing them with ‘eligible person’ and ‘ineligible person’.