- No harassment of taxpayers or business world: PM.
- Arrest only after leakage, falsification or repeated summons.
- Executive arrests require the approval of the Board of Directors of the FBR and the Chamber.
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday the relaxation and inclusion of six guarantees in the finance law to prevent the steep powers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) agents in the event of tax fraud, following solid objections of parliamentarians and the business world, The news reported.
Chairing an examination meeting on FBR issues, the Prime Minister asked the training of a special committee and stressed that taxpayers and business members must in no case be subject to harassment.
The meeting was assisted by the Ministers for Defense, Law, Trade, Economic Affairs and Information, the Minister of State with railways, the President of the FBR, the economic experts and senior officials.
Prime Minister Shehbaz has been informed that the legal provisions for the arrest of the defaults of the sales tax have been part of the law since the 1990s; However, in the light of court decisions, changes were made to the clauses to make them more coherent.
After examining the question in depth, the Prime Minister said that harassing regular taxpayers was unacceptable.
“The respect and dignity of the business world and investors are of the utmost importance for us and any unjustified harassment is intolerable,” he added. He also ordered that the arrest warrant under relevant tax laws will only be limited in the case involving the defaults of an extraordinary scale.
The Prime Minister also ordered that an effective external examination system and checks and counterweights are set up for arrests.
The provisions related to the protection against the improper use of these laws should be included in the finance law, he observed.
He also ordered that all parties allied in Parliament should be consulted on the issue.
The six prerequisite conditions to incorporate CEO arrests, financial directors and the board of directors include guarantees such as:
- If a person involved in tax fraud tries to escape;
- Try the falsification of evidence;
- Three opinions were issued for invocation but not appearing;
- certain limits of tax fraud;
- tax fraud of 50 million rupees for the arrest of managers;
- Approved by the Special FBR Council with a private member representative probably of the Chamber of Commerce for Arrests.
The IMF agreed with the FBR on the materialization of RS389 billion thanks to the effective application of the relaxed financial bill 2025-26.
Although the ministers said before the Panels of the Senate and the National Assembly that the arrest powers had already been invested in the FBR under existing laws, the FBR proposed an abolition of RS1 billion rupees and also increased imprisonment from 5 to 10 years.
The FBR faces a dilemma that if the Parliament has diluted its implementing measures, the IMF will ask the government to take additional measures thanks to a mini-budget during the year 2025-26.
However, the senatorial finance committee and income was shocked on Monday when Senator Anusha Rahman raised the question that the excess money of the abandoned authority of 45 billion rupees was available but was not part of the consolidated fund account.
“There are 12 employees and some other employees subordinate in the authority. Why are they not looking for the allowance of the Ministry of Finance? ”
She also explained that it was the case with Nadra technology, by which they were accused by the government on each verification.
They even billed the ECP RS40 on the verification of voters on the day of the ballot. The problem returned to the surface when the Ministry of Finance filed changes to the Public Finance Management Act (PFM) through the 2025-26 financial bill.
The senators looked for the details of all these entities which had a surplus of money and were parked in banks for allegedly attracted personal advantages, and why they did not take the trouble to deposit it in the account of the consolidated fund of the government.
The committee met under the chairmanship of Senator Salem Mandviwalla. The panel plunged into the clauses on “offenses, penalties and sanctions against tax fraud”.
Senator Farooq H. Naek of the PPP has proposed multiple legal recommendations, in particular the reduction of sanctions for tax fraud of 10 million rupees to 5 million rupees and sentences from 10 years to 5 years, which requires the issuance of three separate opinions before prosecution, demanding the high court to decide tax calls within 60 days and separate the investigation, inquests and phases trial.
Senator Naek pointed out that a two -year sentence was already hard for a businessman. “Ten years is excessive. Penalties must be proportionate and not politicized,” he added.
Echoing this feeling, Senator Shibli Faraz said: “Tax laws should not be used for political victimization.”
The committee approved a new clause for inspection of audit firms under the 2025 bill. FBR officials explained that many audit firms did not meet international standards and “buffer papers”.
Senator Anusha Rehman has raised critical points on the regulation of electronic commerce platforms emphasizing the fact of not loading individuals specifically (young and women) using online platforms to generate income and to define a threshold to record platforms doing business greater than a certain amount.
The online market is no different from the offline market and the FBR should endeavor to record offline markets, she said.
On the proposed electronic billing system, Senator Mohin Aziz noted: “Malaysia began gradual implementation three years ago. We have to assess our preparation. “
Mandviwalla recognized the precious suggestions of Senator Mohin Aziz, indicating to provide written proposals for the progressive implementation of electronic elevation. Talking will not be enough.
The Committee examined the FATA / PATA tax exemption policy, which will start to remove with a TPS of 10% in the next financial year, gradually going to 18%.
The Committee also discussed the “Territoire des capital of Islamabad (service tax) 2001, the provisions of the financial bill, 2005. It was discussed that in accordance with the IMF reference, the” negative list of services “should also be developed.
The Chairman of the Committee warned that the Sindh government raised its concerns that the FBR interfected in its jurisdiction of the services which was the domain of the provinces.
Discussing the federal provisions on the excisees of the financial bill, 2025, the Committee approved the abolition of the federal excise barrel (Fed) on real estate.