PM Shehbaz Orders FBR Reforms to be Completed on Time

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the Federal Board of Revenue to complete its reform measures within the stipulated timeframe and ensure third party audits to assess their transparency, effectiveness and sustainability.

Key points

• 236 billion were processed through digital invoicing in July 2025, compared with more than Rs.
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• Through the Rah e Raftar app, authorities have shut down 2, 500 illegal petrol pumps and taken legal action against them.
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Notably, the directives came during a weekly review session on FBR reforms held in Islamabad, where the prime minister was briefed on the restructuring of PRAL, digitalization of the tax system and measures to curb smuggling and tax evasion.

Shehbaz remarked reforms in the tax system were being implemented to backing the country's development and emphasized that digitalization, production monitoring and automated systems were key pillars of the FBR's reform agenda. He welcomed the appointment process for goods elevators with good reputations in the FBR and commended the FBR chairman and his team for their efforts. Ahsan Iqbal Announces 400th Attempt to Revive Pakistan Railway.

Meanwhile, the prime minister additionally directed authorities to intensify action against tax evasion, smuggling and illegal businesses. He ordered authorities to accelerate reforms aimed at modernizing the tax system, improving revenue collection and completely eliminating smuggling.

Notably, the session was informed that phased work is underway on IRIS 3.0, the new tax operating model and a central data hub to produce the tax system more modern, integrated and data driven. While new senior leadership appointments have been created at PRAL in technology, data security, operations and tax related areas, international consultants have been engaged to design IRIS 3.0.

Authorities stated work is progressing on further improving the tax system under IRIS 3.0, including intends to pilot the auto tax concept and eventually apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve tax collection.

In practice, the session was additionally briefed on the impact of faceless assessment in customs. While the system additionally improved the identification and monitoring of irregularities in imports, average revenue per goods declaration rose by 12 percent from January to June 2026.

In practice, the recruitment process for 280 goods elevators is in its final stages as part of efforts to further integrate the customs assessment system. Work is additionally underway to establish the Central Assessment Unit in Islamabad. It is anticipated to become operational under interim arrangements by December 31, 2026. A fully integrated facility is planned for activation in a new complex by June 2027.

Digital invoicing has additionally recorded a sharp rise. Transactions worth Rs. 236 billion were processed through digital invoicing in July 2025, compared with more than Rs. 2.5 trillion in July 2026. For context, the administration has set a target of Rs. 4 trillion in digital invoicing transactions by December 2026.

On efforts to curb smuggling, authorities stated a number of measures have been completed to prevent the illegal movement of petroleum products. These include GIS tagging of all legal petrol pumps, GPS tracking of petroleum products, linking the enterprise resource planning systems of oil marketing firms with the tracking system and developing a central tracking app for law enforcement agencies.

Through the Rah e Raftar app, authorities have shut down 2, 500 illegal petrol pumps and taken legal action against them. Work is additionally continuing on digital monitoring of petroleum product sales and other anti smuggling measures.

Shehbaz directed authorities to complete all FBR reform measures within the stipulated timeframe and ensure independent third party audits. He pressed faster implementation of reforms to modernize the tax system, strengthen revenue collection and eliminate smuggling.

Federal Ministers Azam Nazeer Tarar, Dr. Musadiq Masood Malik, Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar and Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Member of the National Assembly Usman Owais, State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad, FBR Chairman and other senior authorities attended the gathering. Stay Connected with ProPakistani.

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