Very recently a news item has rattled Pakistan’s business and tax world. According to this news item (not denied), FBR will now have access to the people’s internet, call data and other social media accounts in tax cases.

This might cause a blow to the Government and FBR’s aggressive tax transformation plan having Digitalization as a core component. In a bid to transaction control and Digital Reporting Requirement, e-Invoicing or digital invoicing has been made mandatory for POS mainly on B2C categories bypassing the essential B2G and B2B segments.

In the process of data capturing, tax payers are worried about the protection of their personal data as there is no legally binding ‘Data Protection Regime’ in Pakistan. Country’s tax laws place onerous obligations upon taxpayers but give them very few rights. Country’s tax authorities loath issuing any ‘Charter of Right’ for the taxpayers as is done by all civilized nations.

Pakistan’s tax landscape is in the midst of a radical overhaul. The government and the FBR are pushing an aggressive digitalization agenda, with e-Invoicing at the forefront. The initiative, designed to broaden the tax base and curb evasion, is a critical step towards modernizing........

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