FBR Chairman Announces Decision on Freezing Bank Accounts of Non-Filers

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will not allow banks to freeze accounts or block transactions of non-filers. This was stated by Chairman FBR Rashid Mahmood Langrial during a session of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance today. He assured that banks will not block accounts/names and transactions. He said that while banks do not share customer data due to privacy laws, FBR already has legal authority to access relevant information from any institution for tax compliance. The purpose of these measures is to curb tax evasion, not disrupt transactions, he added. To strengthen enforcement, the chairman revealed that FBR has developed an algorithm to track tax evasion based on turnover, which will be implemented gradually. One Member of National Assembly (MNA) expressed concern that daily cash transactions of Rs. 10-20 million are routine and tighter monitoring could create operational hurdles. Chairman FBR reassured that business transactions will not be restricted.