Federal Board of Revenue (Pakistan)

Federal Board of Revenue

وفاقی آمدنی هيئت‬
Department overview
Formed	July 1, 1920 (1920-07-01)
Preceding Department	Central Board of Revenue
Type	Revenue collection
Jurisdiction	Pakistan
Headquarters	FBR House Constitution Ave, G-5, Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. 44000
Department executive	Dr. Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Chairman FBR/ Federal Secretary for Revenue
Website	www.fbr.gov.pk

The Federal Board of Revenue (Urdu: وفاقی آمدنی هيئت‬‎, abbreviated as FBR) is a top federal government body that investigates crimes related to taxation and money-laundering. The organization collects intelligence on tax evasion and audits cases. It administers tax laws for the Government of Pakistan and acts as the central revenue collection agency of Pakistan. FBR also operates special Broadening of Tax Base zones that keep tax evaders under surveillance and compulsorily bring them into the tax net through its inspectors. These zones have exclusive powers to scrutinize tax evaders. BTB-Karachi nets potentially big tax evaders with the deployment of Inspectors Inland Revenue for field operations, and thus, contributes comparably greater than other BTB Zones in the country. ^[1]

History

The Federal Board of Revenue is the successor of the Central Board of Revenue created on 1 April 1924 through enactment of the "Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924". In 1944, the CBR was put under the Revenue Division with the Ministry of Finance until 1960, when on the recommendations of the "Administrative Reorganization Committee", the CBR was made into a division of the Ministry of Finance. In 1974, further changes were made to streamline the organization and its functions. In 1991, the CBR was once again reverted to its original status under the Revenue Division, however in January 1995, the Revenue Division was abolished and the CBR was once again reverted to a division of the Ministry of Finance. In 2007, the "FBR Act" was passed in July 2007, whereby the Central Board of Revenue was renamed to the present-day Federal Board of Revenue and for a third time placed again under the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance.

Functions

FBR is a semi-autonomous federal agency of Pakistan that is responsible for enforcing fiscal laws and collecting revenue for the government of Pakistan. FBR has the responsibility for (i) formulation and administration of fiscal policies, (ii) levy and collection of federal duties, taxes and other levies, and (iii) quasi-judicial function of deciding taxation cases and appeals. FBR is perhaps the largest federal department in Pakistan. FBR primarily operates through its main collection arms comprising Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) and Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs) across the country. FBR has two major wings: the Inland Revenue & Customs. The Inland Revenue Service (formerly known as Income Tax Department) administers domestic taxation including Sales Tax, Income Tax and Federal Excise Duties and is the main component of FBR. The Pakistan Customs Service administers import duties and other taxes collected at import stage, as well regulates international trade with regard to prohibitions & restrictions imposed by the government. For the purpose of collection of revenue and pursuing tax evaders, FBR's powers & functions also include but are not limited to: carrying out inquiries and audits/investigations into the tax affairs, commanding arrests, attachment as well as public auction of movable and immovable assets of a non-compliant.

Structure

List of Regional Tax Offices Across Pakistan^[5]

Regional Tax Office in Sahiwal is the most recent addition to the tax machinery. It became operative on October 1, 2017.^[7]

References