Tax exemptions, revenue loss, tax expenditure: FBR uses data of more than 80 entities for calculation

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has used data of Pakistan Stock Exchange, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other 80 federal government/ semi-autonomous departments, provincial government departments and financial institutions to calculate annual cost of tax exemptions, revenue loss and tax expenditure.

According to the Tax Expenditure Report-2025, the report explained the data sources used for working out the cost of exemptions and annual revenue loss to the FBR.

The estimates for tax expenditures related to Sales Tax and Customs Duty are derived from data obtained from the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) official database (PRAL). However, when it comes to estimating Income Tax expenditure, the data available from FBR’s database, specifically from income tax returns, has certain limitations and is not sufficient for accurately calculating tax expenditures. To address this, additional data was requested from FBR’s field formations.

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In many instances, data was also sourced from various third-party organisations.

A list of these sources included federal government and semi-autonomous departments, provincial government departments and financial institutions.

The list revealed that sources of over 80 organisations were used for compilation of this report.

The third party sources (organisations) included Accountant General Pakistan Revenue, Alternative Energy Development Board, Aviation Division, Board of Investment, Bureau of Emigration, Controller General of Accounts, Economic Affairs Division, Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution, Engineering Development Board, Export Processing Zones Authority, Federal Employees Benevolent and Group Insurance Fund, Finance Division, Military Accountant General, Rawalpindi; Military Lands & Cantonment Headquarters, Rawalpindi; Ministry of Energy (Power Division), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Textile Industry, National Logistic Cell, Rawalpindi, National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC), Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP), Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Pakistan Railway Headquarters, Lahore, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority, Petroleum Division, Prime Ministers’ Office (Prime Minister’s Youth Program), Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Registrar of Ships & Superintendent of Light Houses, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Privatization Commission of Pakistan, Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA), Accountant General, Balochistan; Accountant General, KPK; Accountant General, Punjab; Accountant General, Sindh; Board of Revenue, Balochistan; Board of Revenue, KPK; Board of Revenue, Punjab; Board of Revenue, Sindh; Directorate of Postal Accounts, Lahore; Energy Department, Sindh; Finance Department, Balochistan; Finance Department, KPK; Finance Department, Punjab; Finance Department, Sindh; Mines & Mineral Development Department (Sindh); Provincial Sports Boards, Provincial Textbook Boards, Social Security Institutions, Asset Management/ Mutual Funds Institutions, Commercial Banks, Real Estate Investment Trust (Dolmen City), Health Insurance Companies, National Investment Trust Limited, Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company Limited, Pakistan Stock Exchange, Pension Funds (registered under Voluntary Pension System), Private pension funds and trusts (registered with FBR), Provident Fund Institutions, Agha Khan Development Network, Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), China North Industries Corps, China Overseas Ports holding Company (Pakistan) Pvt. Ltd., Gwadar Free Zone Company (GFZC), Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, Pakistan Film Producers Association, Pakistan Science Foundation, Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES (P@SHA), Shipping Companies, Women Chambers of Commerce and Industries and other organisations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025