ST registered taxpayers: FBR urged to enable biometric verification through mobile app

LAHORE: President Lahore Tax Bar Association (LTBA) Muhammad Asif Rana has urged Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to enable biometric verification via mobile application for sales tax registered taxpayers.

In a letter, he said, biometric verification for sales tax registration and annually bio metric which required in terms of SRO 350(1)/2024 dated 07.03.2025 is conducted exclusively through NADRA’s physical infrastructure at present. While this may suffice for most residents, it poses considerable challenges for the following categories of taxpayers, including individuals temporarily residing or travelling abroad; taxpayers located in remote or underdeveloped areas; and elderly or physically challenged individuals who cannot easily access NADRA facilities. Due to the unavailability of a remote verification mechanism, he said, these taxpayers are unable to complete their sales tax registration and annual bio-metric which required in terms of SRO 350(1)/2024 dated 07.03.2025, despite their willingness to comply with legal requirements. This creates unnecessary delays, hampers business operations, filing of sales tax returns and discourages potential entrants into the tax system, he added.

While highlighting key challenges, the President LTBA said there is no remote option for overseas taxpayers which results into delays in registration activation and filing of sales tax returns.

Therefore, he said, the LTBA has proposed that the FBR, in coordination with NADRA, should consider the development and deployment of a secure mobile application for biometric verification. According to him, this solution may include facial recognition or fingerprint scanning using smartphone technology and secure integration with FBR and NADRA databases for real-time verification, he added.

He said such a platform would mirror the models already successfully adopted by leading banks and other government bodies in Pakistan for remote customer onboarding and verification. He said any such arrangement would enhance taxpayer facilitation, particularly for overseas Pakistanis and remote-area residents, improve compliance rates, with quicker registration and fewer delays, expanded tax base by removing unnecessary entry barriers and align with FBR’s digital transformation and automation goals.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025