Tax professionals have raised serious concerns about the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) online system, accusing it of pushing registered businesses into an “inactive” status. This move is allegedly being used to impose additional sales tax, thereby increasing revenue collection beyond normal levels.
Tax advisers argue that some sales tax registrations are being declared inactive not due to intentional non-compliance by taxpayers, but because of unresolved technical issues within the FBR system and delays in administrative responses. These claims highlight systemic problems affecting compliant businesses.
One tax adviser, Waheed Shahzad Butt, who is handling a related case, stated that taxpayers are often blocked from filing their sales tax returns despite repeated attempts to resolve the matter with relevant authorities. He emphasized that this practice exerts undue pressure on businesses to pay extra tax amounts and raises serious questions about fairness and accountability within the revenue authority.
In a specific instance, a company filed its December 2025 monthly sales tax return provisionally through the FBR’s online portal. However, the return was automatically locked after the system detected a negative figure in Annexure H-1, which was attributed to a technical glitch caused by an incomplete annexure during provisional filing.
The taxpayer contended that only authorized FBR officials could unlock the return, but despite multiple requests, no action was taken to resolve the issue. Consequently, the company was unable to file subsequent sales tax returns from January 2026 onward. This delay triggered the FBR system to automatically mark the company’s sales tax registration as “inactive.”
Tax experts warn that such an inactive status can lead to significant legal and commercial challenges for businesses operating formally, including disruptions in transactions and compliance documentation.
Waheed further revealed that a formal application was submitted to the Secretary of ST-Operations, accompanied by several visits to the FBR headquarters. Despite meeting officials multiple times, no corrective measures were implemented, nor was any written response provided.
These allegations have intensified concerns among taxpayers regarding the transparency of the FBR system, administrative inefficiencies, and the broader negative impact of unresolved portal-related issues on compliant businesses.
