FBR reforms set to eliminate tax evasion: Secretary Tax Education

FAISALABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2026) Secretary Tax education Muhammad Muti-ur-Rehman Mumtaz said on Saturday that comprehensive reforms and sweeping digital transformation in the Federal board of Revenue (FBR) are set to eliminate tax evasion and the concept of non-filers.

He was while addressing an awareness seminar on “Promotion of Tax Culture” at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI). He said that the reform process, initiated two years ago, involved extensive consultations with all stakeholders to identify systemic issues and propose viable solutions.

As part of these reforms, digitalization has significantly curtailed discretionary powers of FBR officials, ensuring transparency and minimizing human intervention in tax collection, he added.

Highlighting key achievements, he said that monitoring of sugar mills alone resulted in an increase of Rs103 billion in the sales tax within just two months.

Similar improvements were also witnessed in textile, steel beverage and cement sectors where automated systems ensured accurate data recording without manual interference, he added.

He said that number of tax filers had increased by 1.7 million, adding that instead of direct action against non-filers, the government had made foreign travel and property transactions costly and difficult for them, encouraging voluntary compliance.

He further said that tax policy had now been separated as an independent domain while the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) had effectively become the National Tax Number, enabling the authorities to track financial transactions and detect fake accounts.

Referring to the Point of Sale (POS) system, he said that service providers collect taxes on behalf of the government and strict action is taken against those failing to deposit sales tax.

President FCCI Farooq Yousaf Sheikh, in his concluding remarks, thanked the participants and visiting FBR officials.

He emphasized that the public and private sectors were like two wheels of the same vehicle and only through mutual cooperation the economy could be strengthened on solid foundations.

He said that differences among trade associations had been resolved through an All Faisalabad Trade Associations Economic Conference held at a local hotel, enabling unified representation at the chamber level.

A joint document prepared after consultations with all stakeholders had also been submitted to the federal finance minister, he added.

He said that during his visits to more than 50 countries, he had not observed any culture of tax evasion, urging citizens to ensure voluntary tax compliance.

While chamber members were already paying taxes, further improvements in the system were still needed, he added.

FBR Second Secretary Facilitation Abdul Rehman Sheikh said that a reward scheme had been introduced for individuals identifying tax evaders, which would help discourage tax fraud.

He revealed that around 3.3 million potential taxpayers had been identified through electricity bills, out of which notices had been issued to 100,000 individuals for immediate compliance.

Later, a question-answer session was held in which FCCI Executive Members Waheed Khaliq Ramay, Faisal Paracha and Kamran Kisana participated.

FCCI’s liaison committee convener Chaudhary Tallat Mahmood thanked the guests while FCCI President Farooq Yousaf Sheikh presented a special golden jubilee collar pin to Muti-ur-Rehman Mumtaz and exchanged shields, besides handing over budget proposals previously submitted to FBR.