Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Langrial on Wednesday informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance that approximately 9,000 individuals holding bank deposits worth Rs750 billion had not paid any income tax, highlighting what he described as significant gaps in the tax system.
Committee Briefing on Tax Reforms
Langrial made the remarks while briefing the committee on Pakistan’s new tax operating model during a meeting chaired by Syed Naveed Qamar. He discussed the FBR’s increased use of technology and data integration, noting that access to various databases had enabled tax authorities to identify individuals with substantial financial assets who were not contributing to income tax revenues.
Underreporting of Income by Filers
He further told the committee that a large majority of tax return filers declared lower incomes than their actual earnings, claiming that 98.9 percent of filers underreported income in their tax returns. To address this issue, Langrial said the FBR was considering the implementation of a faceless taxation system aimed at reducing direct interaction between taxpayers and tax officials.
“This system requires no contact between the tax official and the taxpayer,” he said, adding that the move was intended to improve transparency, minimise discretion and strengthen tax compliance.
Modernising Tax Administration
The briefing was part of discussions on reforms aimed at modernising tax administration and broadening the country’s tax base. The FBR chairman emphasized that the new system would leverage technology to ensure fair and efficient tax collection.
