FBR Cannot Arrest Businessmen Without Consulting Business Community

In an extraordinary development, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) can no longer order an investigation for arresting businessmen involved in tax fraud, till seeking the input/viewpoint of two representatives of the business community. The FBR has issued a detailed procedure of investigation before any arrest of businessmen under sales tax general order (STGO) number 2 of 2025 on Wednesday. According to the STGO, the Board has directed that the following procedure shall be followed before initiating an investigation leading to action under sub-section (8) and (9) of section 37A of the Sales Tax Act, 1990. The trade organizations mentioned in the STGO shall nominate two persons each (who should be compliant and reasonably significant taxpayers) and send their names to the Member Inland Revenue Operations, FBR Headquarters. The Member Inland Revenue Operations shall nominate 02 persons for each region for consultation from amongst persons nominated by the Trade Organizations based on the income tax payments made by them for the latest tax year, exports and compliance history. The Member Inland Revenue Operations shall not select more than one person from a nominating trade organization in one region, FBR added.