ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday set December 31 as the deadline for rolling out automated production monitoring systems across manufacturing sectors to plug tax leaks and ensure businesses pay their due share.
Chairing a review meeting on Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) reforms, the prime minister called for obstacles to the installation of camera-based monitoring systems to be removed.
He warned that businesses withholding sales tax collected from consumers would not be entitled to concessions.
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He said the government would take all necessary measures to realisethe country’s full tax potential, adding that collecting taxes in line with that potential was an important means of serving the public.
The meeting was briefed that production monitoring systems had been fully installed in the sugar, cement, tobacco, tiles and fertiliser sectors.
Installation was under way in the textile, packaged water, packaged juice and packaged milk industries, with procurement of the required equipment completed.
Officials said equipment procurement for the steel, poultry and tyre sectors was scheduled to be completed by 15 October, while procurement for tea, household electronics, leather, paper and board, and edible oil and ghee was due by 30 October.
The monitoring systems across all these sectors were expected to become fully operational by the end of the year.
The prime minister praised businesses that had voluntarily installed monitoring systems, particularly in the textile sector, where some industries had resisted implementation.
The companies commended for complying with the government’s measures included Nishat Mills, Alkaram Textile, Alkaram Cotton Mills, JK Spinning Mills, Surti Enterprises, Interloop Ltd, Faisal Spinning Mills, Ibrahim Fibres Ltd, Sapphire Textiles Ltd and Nishat Chunian.
The prime minister also praised an audit report on the production monitoring system in the cement sector and directed the Ministry of Information Technology to audit the system’s effectiveness in other industries.
Separately, the meeting reviewed a report assessing the gap between the country’s tax collection and its estimated tax potential. The FBR Transformation Team informed participants that government measures had generated an additional Rs1.3 trillion in tax revenue over the past three years, representing a 40 per cent increase in tax collection. The additional revenue was attributed to enforcement measures.
The prime minister commended the team for preparing a comprehensive assessment of the country’s tax potential and presented shields to its members in recognition of their efforts.
He said the government would continue to take measures to bridge the gap between actual tax collection and the country’s full revenue potential.
Federal ministers Azam Tarar, Musadik Malik, Ahad Cheema and Shaza Fatima attended the meeting, along with State Minister for Finance Bilal Kayani, the prime minister’s adviser on industries and production Haroon Akhtar and senior officials concerned.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026