FBR Assures IMF of Crackdown on Tax Evasion in Retail, Real Estate, Tobacco Sectors

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has assured International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it will identify high-risk taxpayers in the retail, real estate and corporate sectors through audits for reducing tax evasion in these sectors. According to the IMF’s latest report, “First review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement”, the government will continue to enhance tax compliance by leveraging the CRM system to identify high-risk taxpayers (including in the retail, real estate, and corporate sectors), augmenting the number of auditors to bolster enforcement and reduce tax evasion, and maintaining targeted mass nudging/notification strategies. Additionally, the government will expand the participation of retailers in the integrated Point-of Sale (POS) system and will closely monitor import declarations—particularly from importers exhibiting irregular patterns—and sustaining our anti-smuggling initiatives to facilitate revenue mobilization. To combat tax evasion in the informal tobacco market, the government said it will To further enhance revenue administration and improve the efficiency of our track-and-trace system, the government said it will continue with the implementation of the system to monitor production and escalate anti-smuggling campaigns and reinforce checkpoint operations, particularly in the northwestern regions.