ISLAMABAD: The newly appointed Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Zafar-ul-Haq Hijazi has issued his first order against cybercriminals, within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)/Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) or outside FBR/PRAL, involved in fraudulent filing of the sales tax returns/ revised returns to show fake supplies using fake/flying invoices.
The FTO on Wednesday issued very strict instructions to the FBR for taking action against the cybercriminals and beneficiaries of tax fraud.
“The repeated hacking of the passwords of IDs of the taxpayers also reflects on the quality of security and sanctity of the data and the whole IT system. The critical system weaknesses include data integrity, inadequate data security, weak internal controls, and insufficient safeguards against tax fraud. The inadequate system controls include manipulation of data, a lack of system alerts for unusual activity, and unauthorized changes in the taxpayers’ profiles to facilitate the creation of fake transactions, FTO stated.
According to the order signed by the new FTO, illegal misuse of the password ID of the complainant and fraudulent filing of the sales tax returns/ revised returns for the tax periods July 2024 to June 2025, repeatedly every month, introducing fake supplies through Annexure C, resulting in multiple issues for filing of sales tax returns of subsequent tax periods tantamount to maladministration.
The FBR should direct the Chief Commissioners -IR, RTO Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal, RTO-I Karachi, RTO-II Karachi, CTO Islamabad & Lahore, LTO Lahore & Islamabad.
The FBR should ensure legal proceedings for conviction against the beneficiaries of tax fraud, as already identified and communicated by this forum vide letter dated 29.10.2025, followed by reminder on 19.11.2025, in compliance with the instruction of the Board dated 07.092023 in Sales Tax General Order No. 12 of 2023 “Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) to deal with cases involving flying and fake invoices.”
The FBR must find out the other beneficiaries down the supply chain and immediately share details of such cases with the relevant jurisdictions for legal action as per the instruction of the Board dated 07.09.2023, by the respective Commissioners, FTO order maintained.
The FTO has directed the Director General of Intelligence and Investigation (I&I) to dig out the cybercriminals, either within or outside the FBR/PRAL, who used the IP addresses for the introduction of fake supplies in the supply chain, for conviction under the law.
The FTO has also directed the CEO, PRAL, Islamabad, to remove the link incorporated in the 181 - 181-registration form as (Muhammad Sohail Ajmal) or enable the Local Registration Office, RTO, Bahawalpur, to remove the link because they are unable to do the same at their end.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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