The government has uncovered tax evasion worth over Rs22 trillion through ‘fake’ and ‘flying’ invoices over the past two fiscal years, highlighting large-scale public fund losses due to weak enforcement.
According to a report, while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Hamid Atiq Sarwar said that last year fake and flying invoices exceeding Rs873 billion were discovered, compared to Rs1.37 trillion a year earlier, bringing the total over the two years to Rs22.5 trillion.
In response to demands from the business community for tax law relaxations under the Finance Bill 2025-26, he said, “This is about one-third of the total tax collected by Customs.”
Hamid Atiq Sarwar said such large-scale revenue losses cannot be allowed to continue, and action has been taken against tax officials who were abusing their authority.
He stated that no other department at the federal or provincial level has taken punitive action against its workforce the way FBR has.
He said that under the law enforced since 1996, if an assistant commissioner has reason to believe that tax evasion is occurring, records are being tampered with, or suspects are fleeing abroad, arrests are provided for. However, the latest Finance Bill has introduced several safeguards to protect traders and taxpayers from harassment.
