Federal government has proposed a 0.6% advance tax on cash withdrawals by non-filers in order to bring more people into the tax net. According to the finance bill, advance tax will be levied on cash withdrawals from non-filers.
Any individual not included in the list of income tax filers who withdraws an amount exceeding PKR 50,000 from a banking company in a single day will have an advance adjustable tax deduction of 0.6% applied.
The bill clearly states that this condition will only be applicable if the mentioned PKR 50,000 is withdrawn in aggregate within a single day.
This advance tax has been implemented on the recommendation of the Reform and Revenue Mobilization Commission (RRMC) under the leadership of Ashfaq Tola.
RRMC has recommended the reinstatement of withholding tax on cash withdrawals, other banking products, and banking transactions for non-filers.
Withholding tax on cash withdrawals was introduced for the first time through the Finance Act 2005, with a rate of 0.5% and a tax threshold of PKR 25,000 or more.
However, the upcoming tax reforms have increased the threshold to 50,000 rupees and raised the withholding tax rate for tax filers to 0.3% and for non-filers to 0.6%.
In 2019, the tax was abolished for tax filers, but non-filers were still subject to a 0.6% deduction on cash withdrawals exceeding 50,000 rupees per day.
However, in 2021, the Finance Bill 2021 completely abolished the withholding tax on cash withdrawals for non-filers as well.
The idea behind the revival of this tax was that it would not only generate tax revenue but also help bring more people into the tax net.
Despite having 7.6 million individuals registered with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), only 3.6 million actually file tax returns, which is less than 50% of registered taxpayers.
