FBR sets up faceless tax audit, assessment centre in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has established the National Faceless Centre in Islamabad, under which audits and assessments will be handled by “faceless” wings to reduce official discretion and direct contact between tax officials and taxpayers.

The initiative has been taken under Pakistan’s New Tax Operating Model and was approved by the government in principle in June.

The centralised and faceless tax model is similar to systems used in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and India. It is designed to eliminate physical contact between tax authorities and taxpayers to prevent corruption.

The decision to establish the National Faceless Centre was taken the Board in Council — a body headed by the FBR chairperson — in its meeting on Friday, an FBR statement said.

It described NFC as a major reform that “changes how tax audits and assessments are carried out in Pakistan”.

Until now, a taxpayer whose return was picked for audit had to deal with a particular officer in a particular office, often in person. Under the new system, that contact ends.

Cases will be selected by a computerised, risk-based system rather than by any officer. Each case will then be assigned automatically to an officer who may be sitting anywhere in the country. The taxpayer will not know who the officer is, and the officer will have no say in which case comes to them.

Every case will pass through three separate hands. One officer will conduct the audit, a second will make the assessment, and a third will review the work for quality before any order is issued. No single officer will control a taxpayer’s case from start to finish.

All notices, replies and hearings will take place electronically through FBR’s IRIS system, and where the law requires a physical verification or recovery, it will be carried out by a separate field team, the statement detailed.

The NFC draws its legal authority from the Finance Act, 2026.

It will be headed by an Inland Revenue chief commissioner, with dedicated wings for faceless audit, faceless assessment, quality control and field operations. A Programme Management Unit has already been set up to oversee its rollout.

“The purpose of the reform is same rules for every taxpayer, decisions based on data rather than personal judgement, and an end to the face to face contact that has long been a source of complaints. FBR expects the NFC to make tax proceedings faster, fairer and more transparent for taxpayers across Pakistan,” the statement said.