FBR 'faces' Rs335 billion revenue shortfall in first half of FY2025-26

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue has recorded a revenue shortfall of Rs335 billion after failing to meet its tax collection target for the first half of the current fiscal year (July–December), ARY News reported, quoting sources.

According to sources, the tax target for the first six months was set at Rs6,490 billion, while the FBR managed to collect Rs6,155 billion, resulting in a significant gap.

In December 2025 alone, the revenue shortfall stood at around Rs25 billion, the sources added.

During the July–December period, the FBR paid Rs292 billion in tax refunds. Income tax collections exceeded Rs3,026 billion, while sales tax revenue amounted to Rs2,086 billion in the first half of the fiscal year.

Collections from federal excise duty reached Rs400 billion, whereas customs duty contributed more than Rs642 billion, according to the data.

The sources further revealed a notable increase in tax return filings. In the previous fiscal year, 5.2 million income tax returns were filed during the July–December period.

The figure rose to over 7 million returns in the corresponding period of the current fiscal year, indicating improved compliance despite the overall revenue shortfall.

Earlier, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has initiated disciplinary action and immediately suspended six officials who were found unauthorizedly absent from their assigned monitoring duties at sugar mills, reaffirming its zero-tolerance policy toward misconduct and dereliction of duty.

The officials had been deployed under Section 40B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 to ensure effective, transparent and uninterrupted monitoring of sugar production, said a news release.