PM hails increase in tax revenues

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday delivered a forceful message to the country’s top revenue officials, hailing a 42 percent increase in federal tax revenues while warning there would be zero tolerance for complacency in the fiscal year ahead.

Chairing a high-stakes weekly review on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s reform and digitisation drive, Sharif celebrated what he called a “decade-defining achievement” – an additional Rs 865 billion year-on-year jump in tax collections, driven by sweeping reforms and stricter enforcement.

Officials said the increase marked an eightfold rise, pushing the federal revenue-to-GDP ratio to 11.3 per cent, a notable 1.5 percentage point leap from last year.

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“The time for excuses is over,” Sharif told top bureaucrats and revenue chiefs.

“No department will be allowed to slack off. We are on a mission and failure is not an option.”

The prime minister, who is personally overseeing implementation of the government’s economic roadmap, demanded that all public institutions rally behind the FBR and treat taxpayers with dignity and respect. But he made clear that respect for citizens must be matched by relentless pursuit of those dodging taxes.

Sharif unveiled an aggressive expansion of the FBR’s digital net, ordering the mandatory digitisation of production lines in non-compliant industries and a nationwide rollout of the Track and Trace Digital Production System to bring untaxed sectors under scrutiny. The system, currently active in sugar, tobacco, and fertiliser sectors, will soon extend to cement and other key industries.

He also called for an expanded point of sale (POS) system in the retail sector to stamp out under-the-table transactions and tighten the noose around tax evasion.

“Digitalisation is not optional, it is survival,” Sharif declared, urging officials to break the back of the informal economy. “We will not let billions bleed from our economy because of outdated systems or vested interests.”

The fiery session came just days after the passage of the 2025 federal budget, which the prime minister hailed as a cornerstone of his government’s economic resurgence strategy. He congratulated the finance team and reaffirmed his commitment to turning Pakistan’s fiscal landscape around.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025