ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad rejected media reports claiming that Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had missed its annual tax target by Rs864 billion ($3.08 billion).
He said the FBR had achieved more than 99 percent of its tax collection target over the first 11 months of the fiscal year.
Local media had reported last week that Pakistan missed its tax target by over $3 billion ahead of the federal budget, which is expected later this month.
Schehzad said tax targets are set at the start of each fiscal year based on macroeconomic assumptions, including GDP growth, inflation, imports, industrial output, exchange rates and policy rates.
He said the government later revised the revenue target to around Rs13,000 billion ($46.33 billion) in consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The revision reflected changing economic conditions, including inflation volatility, currency movements, domestic disruptions such as floods and global geopolitical tensions affecting energy and commodity prices.
He said the FBR collected Rs994 billion in May, reaching 97 percent of its monthly target.
“Tax collection during the first eleven months reached Rs11,257 billion,” Schehzad wrote on social media platform X. “Against the revised 11-month target, FBR has achieved 99.8 percent of the goal.”
He rejected claims of a revenue shortfall or fiscal stress, saying the data did not support reports of a “massive” tax gap.
𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀: 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀
Some media reports are repeatedly citing an “Rs864 billion tax shortfall” based on the FBR target of Rs14,130 billion at the start of FY26. This is misleading.
Tax targets are set before the…
— Khurram Schehzad (@kschehzad) May 31, 2026
Schehzad added that the FBR collected Rs1,502 billion in June 2025. He said the June 2026 target stands at Rs1,727 billion, requiring 15 percent growth, which he described as consistent with the revised fiscal framework.
He assured businesses and investors that there was no basis for concerns about additional tax measures or extraordinary enforcement actions linked to any supposed shortfall.
He said fiscal commentary should rely on updated official data and reflect current economic conditions, warning that selective use of outdated benchmarks could create a misleading picture of fiscal stress.
