I: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has strongly objected to the Federal Board of Revenue’s latest tax audit initiative, criticizing the decision to place medical practitioners in the same category as beauty parlours and aesthetic clinics. The backlash follows FBR’s expanded enforcement campaign targeting high-fee doctors and luxury beauty businesses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
PMA calls the comparison “inappropriate and harmful”
In a statement to Medical News, the PMA said equating healthcare providers with commercial grooming businesses undermines the essential nature of medical services. While salons operate purely for profit, the association noted, doctors address critical human needs and should not be treated as routine commercial entities. The PMA further cautioned that heightened tax pressure could restrict access to already-scarce affordable healthcare, especially for low-income communities.
FBR targets 250 high-fee doctors in first audit phase
As part of its campaign to broaden the tax net, the FBR has begun issuing audit notices to upscale salons, aesthetic clinics and high-fee medical professionals. Officials confirm that records of 250 doctors—100 each in Karachi and Lahore, and 50 in Islamabad—will be scrutinized in the initial phase. The tax body has also gathered detailed data on high-end beauty businesses and plans audits of private companies in the paint sector.
FBR expanding audit capacity with private auditors
To fast-track sector-wide audits, the FBR has engaged 600 private auditors and aims to increase the number to 2,000. All hired professionals will be bound by strict confidentiality requirements to safeguard taxpayer information.
Healthcare is not commercial grooming, PMA stresses
The association said the FBR’s approach reflects a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the role of healthcare, urging the tax authority to adopt a more nuanced framework that recognises the public service dimension of medical practice.
