FBR to Raise Extra Rs. 250 Billion From Retailers to Curb Tax Shortfall

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has planned an extra revenue generation drive whereby it will collect additional Rs. 250 billion from retailers to curb revenue shortfall. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has inspected FBR’s administrative measures to raise Rs. 250 billion through its Compliance Risk Management (CRM) framework and efforts to bring millions of retailers into the tax net. The government aims to generate additional revenue by enforcing the CRM framework, expanding the Compliance Improvement Plan (CIP), and implementing the Tajir Doost Scheme across 36 more cities. The FBR has integrated tax data from 145 agencies and introduced digital invoicing, track-and-trace mechanisms, and stricter enforcement to curb tax evasion. Plans are also underway to amend protocols to improve monitoring across the supply chain. To enhance compliance, the FBR is developing AI-driven audits, selecting 3-5 percent of the six million filed returns for scrutiny, and hiring independent auditors. The IMF will also review Pakistan’s tax penalty system to formulate a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR). Separately, the lender and the government will evaluate economic performance in the first half of FY 2024-25 and discuss macroeconomic adjustments.