The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has found serious concern over significant disparities in tax compliance during 2023–24 with a major gap between income and sales tax participation.
A new report of the FBR revealed that with 4,738,595 active taxpayers and only 234,193 sales tax filers, there is a notable gap between income and sales tax participation during 2023-24.
Regional Tax Office (RTO) Lahore leads in both categories, while Karachi and Faisalabad also show strong performance. In contrast, LTOs like Multan and Islamabad report the lowest numbers, reflecting their focus on specialized taxpayers.
Urban centers dominate the tax base, but smaller regions like Sialkot perform relatively well. The varied active taxpayer-to-sales tax filer ratios underscore the need to expand sales tax compliance, particularly in regions with high-income tax participation.
The number of active taxpayers during FY 2023-24 highlights a total of 4.74 million active income tax filers and 234,193 sales tax filers across various regions.
RTO Lahore leads with 809,131 active income tax filers, followed by RTO-II Karachi (522,284) and RTO Multan (382,575). In sales tax filers, RTO Lahore again ranks highest with 41,783 filers, followed by RTO-I Karachi (20,979).
Stay Connected with ProPakistani
Get the latest business news, market insights, and economic updates wherever you prefer.
Add ProPakistani to Preferred Sources and see more of our stories in Google Search and Top Stories.
What is the reason behind such hike?
Sales Tax is a Tax on end consumer. Why would a business voluntarily register themselves in Sales Tax to become more expensive than their competitors? Not to mention the amount of additional documentation including monthly tax returns filing etc and the overhead costs these incur on a business.