FBR Under Fire for Privacy Breach and Costly E-Invoicing Push

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing serious criticism after failing to explain its actions to the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), following a complaint that its online business integration drive is both expensive and possibly violating privacy laws.

This all started with a taxpayer from Lahore who challenged the way FBR is enforcing SRO 428 — a rule that forces businesses to connect with FBR’s computerized invoicing system. The complaint highlights that this forced integration not only costs businesses a lot of money, but may also be breaching privacy laws. The complainant even pointed to a Supreme Court ruling (PLD 2021 SC1), which demands disciplinary and criminal action against any tax officer who leaks or mishandles taxpayer data under Section 216 of the law.

What’s making it worse? FBR hasn’t responded to the complaint at all, despite multiple reminders. So now, the FTO has launched a full investigation.

The main concerns revolve around how private companies are being allowed to handle taxpayer info under FBR’s online system. The complainant is asking for transparency: how were these companies selected? Is taxpayer data safe? Are privacy laws being respected? They’ve requested full documentation to make sure there’s no favoritism and that everything is above board.

Meanwhile, FBR is about to approve two more private companies for integration duties — taking the total to three — alongside PRAL (Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited), which is the government’s own tech arm and offers integration services for free as a licensed POS integrator.