Key Points
- FBR records highest-ever monthly revenue in December
- Finance minister signals tougher enforcement and monitoring ahead
- Broadening tax base identified as core weakness despite record month
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s tax authority achieved its highest-ever monthly revenue collection in December, nearing the initial target. The country’s finance minister warned that structural gaps in enforcement and the narrow tax base continue to threaten the full-year goal.
Official data reviewed during a meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) field formations showed that December collections rose to around Rs 1,427 billion, marking a record monthly inflow and providing temporary relief to fiscal managers midway through the financial year.
Despite the strong December performance, the finance minister noted that cumulative collections for July–December remain below target, underlining that one-off monthly gains cannot offset systemic weaknesses in tax compliance and documentation.
According to officials briefed during the meeting, Inland Revenue formations accounted for the bulk of December’s inflows, benefiting from year-end payments, enhanced audit activity and enforcement measures. Customs receipts, however, continued to face pressure due to subdued import volumes.
Aurangzeb directed tax authorities to intensify enforcement actions, improve real-time monitoring of large taxpayers, and accelerate efforts to bring untaxed sectors into the formal net, signalling a tougher approach in the second half of the fiscal year.
He also cautioned that without sustained monthly improvements, the FBR could struggle to meet its annual revenue target under the ongoing IMF-supported programme, making consistent enforcement more critical than isolated record months.
The government has linked revenue mobilisation to broader economic stabilisation efforts, with tax reforms, digitisation, and compliance drives forming key pillars of the current fiscal strategy.
