Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed an acceleration in the pace of reforms at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), noting that the initial results of the ongoing overhaul were encouraging.
Chairing a high-level review meeting in Islamabad, the prime minister said the FBR’s institutional capacity must be continuously enhanced to effectively bridge the tax gap, and stressed that technology, professional training, transparency and accountability must remain central so the reforms yield concrete outcomes.
He ordered a swift nationwide rollout of the faceless tax collection mechanism and said officials should lift their performance keeping in view the nation’s expectations.
The meeting was attended by Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb and Attaullah Tarar, along with Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Attorney General Mansoor Awan and other senior officials, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
Underscoring that the reform agenda served the broader national interest and would proceed unhindered, the prime minister called for zero tolerance and indiscriminate action against corrupt elements within the department.
He said staff showing genuine improvement in conduct and performance should be given an opportunity to reform, while emphasising there should be no room for corruption or underperformance.
During the meeting, officials gave a detailed briefing on ongoing interventions across technology, procedural workflows and human resource management. It was informed that reforms implemented over the past three years had narrowed the estimated tax gap from six to five per cent of GDP, while effective use of technology had substantially reduced the inherent powers of FBR officials.
The review follows the FBR’s detailed presentation on its transformation plan, digital monitoring and AI-based return analysis. Read our earlier report: FBR to Brief PM on Faceless System, Rs1 Trillion Tax Gap.
