The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has established a National Faceless Centre (NFC) in Islamabad to shift tax audits and assessments to a centralized digital system, reducing direct interaction between taxpayers and tax officials.
The initiative is part of Pakistan’s New Tax Operating Model, which aims to limit individual discretion in tax cases and make the audit and assessment process more technology-driven. The government had approved the model in principle in June.
Under the new system, tax audit cases will be selected through a computerized, risk-based mechanism instead of being chosen by individual tax officers. Once selected, cases will be automatically assigned to officers located anywhere in the country.
Taxpayers will not be informed about the identity of the officer handling their case, while officers will also have no control over which cases are assigned to them.
The new model also separates different stages of the tax process. One officer will conduct the audit, another will prepare the assessment, and a third will review the case before the final order is issued.
This arrangement prevents a single officer from controlling a taxpayer’s case throughout the audit, assessment and decision-making stages.
Taxpayers will receive notices, submit responses and participate in hearings electronically through the FBR’s IRIS system. Physical verification and recovery activities, where legally required, will be handled separately by field teams.
The Finance Bill has also provided the legal framework for implementing faceless audits, assessments and appeals, supporting the FBR’s broader move toward a centralized and digital tax administration system.
