Business Desk 
Jun 26, 2025
The government is expected to announce the changes in the Finance Bill 2025-26, which will lower penalties for top sales tax violators and reduce copies in cases of tax offences committed by the business community today (June 26).
Reportedly, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) changed these amendments at the behest of the Prime Minister's committee and the finance standing committee of the National Assembly and Senate.
These changes, which took place on July 1, 2025, are expected to ease enforcement actions against sales tax defaulters, which has raised alarm bells among tax professionals.
Under amended Finance Bill
- Bank accounts of unregistered sales tax persons can only be suspended for three days at a time, and the suspension can be repeated only twice with one-week gaps.
- The FBR Commissioner must give three opportunities for voluntary registration before any action.
Online marketplaces, couriers, and payment platforms will face
- Rs300,000 fine for failing to submit monthly statements.
- Rs1 million fine for repeat defaults within a year.
- Similar fines for allowing unregistered persons to sell online.
Tax fraud punishments are now split:
- For serious fraud: Up to 10 years in jail, Rs10 million fine, and full tax recovery with a 100% penalty.
- For lesser fraud: Up to 5 years in jail, Rs5 million fine, and recovery terms remain the same.
These Finance Bill 2025-26 amendments have sparked concern that such leniency may embolden large businesses to ignore tax compliance, weakening Pakistan’s fight against tax evasion.
