Islamabad, January 6, 2026 — Even as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tightens nooses around taxpayers to curb revenue leakages, a shocking scam has surfaced from within its own ranks, exposing serious cracks in Pakistan’s tax administration system.
A sensational case unearthed by the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has revealed that taxpayers are allegedly being registered without mandatory SIM verification, a core pillar of FBR’s digital reforms. The revelation has raised alarm bells over possible large-scale revenue loss and erosion of public trust.
How the Scam Works
The scandal came to light after a tax practitioner filed a complaint under Section 10(1) of the FTO Ordinance, 2000, alleging blatant manipulation of the taxpayer registration system. According to the complaint, while FBR officially mandates that new registrations be verified through a CNIC-linked mobile SIM, certain individuals have found ways to bypass this safeguard.
Investigations revealed that several National Tax Numbers (NTNs) were generated through “Manual” mode instead of the standard online process. This indicates the use of internal FBR access, reportedly from Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) or PRAL back offices, allowing NTNs to be issued without SIM verification — allegedly in exchange for hefty bribes running into thousands of rupees per case.
Conflicting Responses, Troubling Evidence
Initial responses from RTO Bahawalpur denied issuing any manual NTN. However, jurisdictional checks traced a suspicious registration to RTO Peshawar, prompting requests to PRAL for login details of the officer whose credentials were used.
The plot thickened when the Database Administrator of RTO Multan presented a list of 65 manually registered taxpayers in November 2025. Shockingly, these registrations were made from official logins without following the latest Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Further scrutiny showed:
• 38 out of 65 individuals had valid SIMs, yet manual registration was still used.
• 51 cases belonged to RTO Multan, while 14 were processed using logins of officers from other RTOs.
• Most of these taxpayers were already filers, suggesting the registrations may have been exploited to avail reduced withholding tax rates, especially in property transactions.
Serious Revenue Risks
Despite the complainant later seeking withdrawal of the case, the FTO continued proceedings due to grave implications:
• Potential misuse of fake or irregular NTNs for tax concessions.
• Artificial inflation of filer numbers without genuine compliance.
• High risk of state revenue leakage.
The FTO concluded that the actions constitute maladministration under Section 2(3)(i) of the FTO Ordinance, citing clear violations of law and established procedures.
Key Recommendations
The FTO has issued strong recommendations, including:
• A comprehensive forensic audit by DG (DT & IT), FBR and PRAL of all recently manually registered NTNs.
• Identification and strict disciplinary action against officers involved in bypassing SOPs.
• Immediate measures to seal system loopholes enabling unauthorized manual registrations.
A Blow to Digital Reforms
This explosive revelation has cast a dark shadow over FBR’s much-touted digitalization drive. As taxpayers face increasing scrutiny, the exposure of internal manipulation raises a critical question: Who is policing the police?