ISLAMABAS: A parliamentary committee rejected a government proposal allowing the tax authority direct access to taxpayer bank account data within various scheduled national banks.
Lawmakers expressed significant concerns regarding potential data misuse, stating that the federal tax agency must not bypass standard legal procedures to obtain private banking records.
Tax officials argued that the private financial data already resided with the Central State Bank and would only be examined against yearly income tax returns.
The revenue authority wanted direct bank access to expand corporate oversight, noting that Rs37000000 million currently sits inside 1.8 million separate private banking accounts.
Officials pointed out that only one million of those active bank accounts are formally registered, while transaction details for large companies remain fully accessible today.
Furthermore, the main parliamentary committee rejected specific proposals in the Finance Bill 2026 designed to significantly tighten financial penalties for tax filers and unregistered individuals.
Lawmakers argued that imposing heavy fines during illness or other genuine challenges was highly unjust, directing the tax authority to completely redraft the proposed amendments.
