Aasaan tax scheme registers just 222 traders against a target of one million
Pakistan's Aasaan tax scheme has registered just 222 traders against a target of one million, according to Token Times, repeating the failure of the 2024 Taajir Dost scheme it was meant to improve on. The gap matters because the International Monetary Fund's third review of Pakistan's programme, dated May 2026, said consolidation so far has relied primarily on raising revenue from the formal sector, and pressed the authorities to broaden the base in undertaxed sectors.
The two schemes differ in design. Taajir Dost levied a monthly advance minimum tax based on electricity bills and commercial property valuation and required monthly regular and advance statements; Aasaan instead charges a flat 1 percent turnover tax on annual sales, or a minimum of Rs25,000, on a simplified form in local languages. Taajir Dost offered a 25 percent discount for lump-sum or early payment and a 50 percent rebate for new filers, while Aasaan offers audit exemption, point-of-sale exemption and QR-coded protection against random FBR inspections. Both met heavy resistance from traders, and the FBR is now relying on enforcement, threatening utility cut-offs for non-compliance.
Aasaan's Rs200 million annual turnover ceiling suggests larger traders and shopkeepers have already registered. The scheme also exempts participants from withholding income tax deduction and from point-of-sale requirements.
The enforcement burden falls on a bigger audit force. The IMF review noted that as of March 2026 the FBR introduced a new audit workflow under which all cases are high-risk cases identified through a compliance risk management system, with more than 150 officers trained in its use. Local tax commissioners assign cases to existing field officers or newly hired auditors; the FBR hired 431 auditors by end-March 2026 and plans 396 more by end-June 2026. Whether 827 auditors can secure compliance from millions of traders outside the tax framework is unclear.
Pakistan's tax-to-GDP ratio reached 12.3 percent in 2025, below the 25th percentile of peer countries, and includes the petroleum levy, which the FBR does not collect, as well as provincial taxes; FBR collections alone were 10.6 percent of GDP. In fiscal year 2025-26 the ratio fell to 10.3 percent, a drop the editorial attributes to the Middle East crisis. The FBR's 2025 Tax Expenditure report estimates about 1.2 percent of GDP in exemptions remain, notably on residential property sales and certain foods, and sales tax compliance through production monitoring in sugar, cement and fertilisers has been achieved at the expense of consumers, who absorbed the costs. Digital invoicing remains limited to large players.
