Govt collects Rs10 billion in withholding tax from non-filers this FY

Bad news for the non-filers as the government has deducted Rs10 billion in withholding tax from the amount they drew in the first 10 months of the ongoing financial year (FY), reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.

Quoting its sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), 24NewsHD TV channel reported that now in case a non-filer draws Rs50,000 from a bank, Rs300 will be deducted from the amount he has drawn in withholding tax.

And in case he drew the same amount through an ATM or a credit card, Rs300 would be deducted from that amount, they elaborated.

They further said that Rs10 billion were received by those banks, which had their head offices in Karachi.

It is pertinent to mention here that under section 231 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 advance tax is levied on cash withdrawal.  

Sources informed that banks deducted the amounts in withholding tax from those persons whose names were not included on the ‘Active List’.

Experts, on the other hand, said that the purpose of levying withholding tax on the non-filers was to bring them into the tax net.

Reporter: Ashraf Khan