Karachi, August 6, 2025 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched the first phase of an aggressive tax scrutiny campaign, identifying 14 priority sectors for detailed auditing and compliance monitoring.
This move is part of FBR’s broader transformation plan aimed at enhancing revenue collection and plugging tax leakages across critical sectors of the economy.
The 14 sectors earmarked for initial scrutiny include automobile, textile, iron and steel, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Distribution Companies (DISCOs), pharmaceutical, banking and insurance, beverages, chemicals and fertilizers, real estate (builders and developers), petroleum oil lubricants (POL), cement, sugar, telecommunication, and tobacco.
To facilitate this process, the FBR has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the hiring of sector experts and audit monitors across its field formations. These SOPs are designed to ensure a transparent, uniform, and regionally coordinated approach. The recruitment will take place across three key operational zones: North, Central, and South.
The FBR plans to hire 100 sector experts—four for each field formation—and 58 audit monitors. Specifically, audit monitors will be placed at Large Taxpayer Offices (LTOs), Corporate Tax Offices (CTOs), Medium Tax Offices (MTOs), and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs), with deployment varying between two to three per office.
This initiative is part of a larger strategy where the FBR aims to scrutinize 42 sectors in total. By bringing in specialized expertise, the FBR hopes to improve tax compliance and enforcement across sectors that contribute significantly to the national economy but have historically faced weak oversight.