FBR will seek govt nod to publish tax directory of lawmakers, all filers

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is considering publishing Tax Directory for parliamentarians and all filers after a pause of several years.

The publishing of the Tax Directory might be resumed after a pause of three years, as last time the FBR had published the Tax Directory for the Tax Year 2019 in January 2022.

When contacted, FBR Chairman Rashid Mehmood Langrial confirmed on Friday that they would seek permission from the federal government in this regard by next week.

Under the Transformation Plan envisaged and executed by the FBR, the tax machinery has convinced the IMF, probably first time in recent years, to fetch almost Rs400 billion through enforcement measures.

The IMF does not concede to the enforcement measures, so the FBR now wants to move ahead to resume its practice for the publication of the Tax Directory again, provided the government grants its permission.

The FBR is now going ahead with a name-and-shame policy for those who prefer to hide their actual income and evade taxes worth millions of rupees.

The publication of the Tax Directory requires approval of the federal cabinet, so the summary is forwarded to secure the formal approval of the government.

“We will seek formal approval of the federal government next week,” top officials in the FBR confirmed to The News here on Friday. The credit for the publication of the Tax Directory goes to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, as they started launching it in 2013, and it continued during their tenure from 2013 to 2018.

However, the last Tax Directory for Tax Year 2019 was published in January 2022 during the tenure of PTI-led regime. Afterwards, the publication of the Tax Directory was stopped.