ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial presided over a high-level meeting with Chief Commissioners Inland Revenue and Chief Collectors of Customs to finalize a strategy for achieving the assigned tax collection targets for the second half of the fiscal year 2025–26 (January–June).
The meeting was also attended by Member Inland Revenue (Operations) and Member Customs (Operations), with a focus on addressing the revenue shortfall recorded during the first six months of the current fiscal year.
Via video link, the FBR Chairman appreciated the recovery drive initiated by field formations to collect admissible stuck-up revenue after completion of due legal process. Sources said discussions centered on meeting the revised targets through recoveries from pending court cases, along with enhanced enforcement and administrative measures during the remaining period of the fiscal year.
The participants were informed that the FBR’s annual tax collection target for 2025–26 has been revised downward from Rs14,307 billion to Rs13,979 billion, reflecting a reduction of Rs328 billion. Heads of field formations shared potential revenue avenues for the third quarter (January–March) of FY2025–26.
The meeting also reviewed possible additional revenue measures to safeguard fiscal targets, including a proposed 5 percentage point increase in excise duties on fertilizers and pesticides, introduction of excise duties on high-value sugary products, and expansion of the sales tax base by shifting selected items to the standard rate.
Updated revenue figures were shared, showing that FBR collected Rs6,169 billion during July–December 2025–26 against a target of Rs6,490 billion, resulting in a cumulative shortfall of Rs321 billion. Provisional data further indicated that tax collection in December 2025 stood at Rs1,425 billion, slightly below the monthly target of Rs1,446 billion, leaving a shortfall of Rs21 billion.
The meeting highly appreciated the efforts of newly appointed Member Inland Revenue (Operations) Zubair Bilal, noting that his initiatives played a key role in narrowing the revenue gap during the period under review.
