A whole institution, which was legislated by the country’s law in 2007, has been scrapped off in one parliament sitting. This wasn’t due to any sort of scandal either. The fact that an office, which was carefully created, did this, says it all.
ISLAMABAD: Legislators do not typically abolish institutions abruptly. But that is precisely what was done on Wednesday, when the National Assembly passed the FBR Amendment Bill 2026, eliminating the FBR Policy Board from the laws of Pakistan completely, including its mention in Section 6 and in other sections of the Federal Board of Revenue Act, 2007.
The finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the bill just after the House approved the supplementary grants. The Senate had approved it on 18th June. The passage of this bill on Wednesday was completed when the House rejected the amendments moved by JUI-F leader Alia Kamran.
The Policy Board: Why Its Job Was Already Being Done
Ironically enough, the reason for the abolition of the Policy Board was not because of the failure of the board in performing its responsibilities; rather, the Policy Board was dissolved due to other reasons.
A separate Tax Policy Office has been set up by the Federal Government in the Ministry of Finance in order to evolve its own independent tax policy without any interference from the tax collection department of FBR. It is a very smart decision to make by the government as the separation of those people who formulate policies from those who implement them eliminates an apparent conflict of interest.
Problem? After that body came into being, the Policy Board was just surplus baggage. Two bodies doing the same thing, one redundant. It was up to Parliament to delete the extra.
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Hidden in the Fine Print – Quiet Shifting of Power
However, apart from the disbandment of the board, there is another aspect of the proposed bill which has been overlooked. The federal government will continue to appoint the Chairman and leading members of the FBR.
But the Secretary, Revenue Division, now holds authority to appoint FBR members directly via transfers and postings of BS-21+. It is really a significant change in the hands that control staffing of senior tax bureaucracy, hidden in plain sight of everyone talking about housekeeping legislation.
What It Really Means
Pakistan’s tax system has long come under fire because of the blurring of boundaries between tax policy making and tax collection. This is where the new bill clearly defines the boundary, at least on paper. The Tax Policy Office makes the tax policies, while the FBR collects them.
What remains to be seen is whether this will make any difference in terms of more effective tax policy or merely reorganizing the bureaucracy in Pakistan.
Nayab Fatima is a university graduate and an emerging media professional with a strong passion for journalism, research, and independent reporting. She specializes in developing well-researched, fact-based, and analytical news stories covering a wide range of sectors, with particular expertise in technology, telecommunications, aviation, and the automobile industry.
