ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national tax authority has suspended 211 senior officers and sidelined another 32 deemed to be of “questionable repute” over the past two years, according to official data seen by Arab News, as the agency intensifies an internal accountability campaign aimed at curbing corruption.
The figures, covering the period from August 2024 through mid-2026, point to one of the most extensive disciplinary drives within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), an institution that wields sweeping powers over businesses and taxpayers and has long faced allegations of corruption and abuse of authority.
The data shows disciplinary actions have accelerated sharply under FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, with the agency replacing what officials describe as an informal complaints culture with documented enforcement measures.
“As many as 211 senior officers of grade 16 to grade 21 of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) have been suspended in two years while the previous annual baseline was 33,” according to FBR figures reviewed by Arab News.
The IRS is the FBR’s domestic tax collection arm.
Major disciplinary penalties also increased steadily, rising from 38 cases in fiscal year 2023-24 to 49 in 2024-25, before reaching 75 by 2025-26.
By April 2026, the FBR had also identified 32 officers, including 14 from the Inland Revenue Service and 18 from Pakistan Customs, another FBR department, as being of “questionable repute.”
Most were senior officials in grade 20 or above who were removed from operational postings.
The internal campaign has coincided with criminal investigations by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which arrested several senior officials, including Customs Enforcement Quetta Collector Dr. Karam Ilahi and Additional Collector Maryum Jameela, in corruption-related cases.
According to the official data, the proportion of officers classified as having low integrity in sensitive Inland Revenue positions declined from 74 percent in July 2023 to 11 percent by June 2026. In Customs, the figure fell from 71 percent to 9 percent over the same period.
The FBR has also significantly expanded scrutiny of officials seeking promotion.
Officers placed on a “performance watch” list increased from about 2 percent in 2023 to roughly 40 percent by 2025, reflecting tighter vetting standards focused on financial integrity and professional conduct.
Officials attribute the changes to institutional reforms rather than one-off disciplinary actions. Mandatory peer-review cycles recorded completion rates of 97.4 percent, 99.5 percent and 100 percent in successive evaluation rounds, according to the data.
An FBR official said on condition of anonymity the agency had introduced a “faceless” income tax assessment system to reduce opportunities for corruption by eliminating direct interaction between tax officials and taxpayers.
“The board has introduced a new faceless system in income tax in which there will be no physical contact between the tax collectors and taxpayers,” he said.
He added that the FBR had also introduced an integrity-based rating system in which “’A’ is assigned to persons with the most integrity while ‘D’ is given to those with the least integrity.”
By June 2026, officials rated “A” or “B” occupied 89 percent of critical Inland Revenue positions and 91 percent of key Customs posts, according to the official figures, largely displacing lower-rated officers from sensitive assignments.
The reforms come as Pakistan seeks to improve tax administration and strengthen governance while pursuing broader fiscal reforms to increase revenue collection and rebuild investor confidence.
