FBR finds Rs 9.41 billion wealth statement fraud: 85 taxpayers, 48 criminal inquiries

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) says 85 taxpayers illegally revised old wealth statements to add Rs 9.41 billion in cash, gold, prize bonds, property and business capital that they had never declared, and it has registered money laundering cases and opened 48 criminal inquiries across the country.

The revisions were made between March 2025 and June 2026 to returns for tax years 2014 to 2019. That matters to every filer working on a return before the new income tax return last date of 15 October, because it shows exactly what the FBR's systems now flag.

Why the revisions were illegal: Section 116(3)

Under Section 116(3) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, a wealth statement cannot be revised more than five years after the due date of the original return. Every revision in this case was outside that window. Adding assets to a 2015 statement in 2026, for example, is not allowed at all.

The FBR's Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Inland Revenue) found the pattern by analysing the FBR database with Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL), which runs the IRIS system.

One case from Lahore

The FBR described one Lahore taxpayer who, in May 2026, revised his 2015 wealth statement to add a fictitious Rs 102.8 million. He carried that amount forward year by year into his 2025 statement, then used it to justify seven properties worth Rs 64.41 million bought in May and June 2026. Questioned, he could not explain where the money came from. The FBR puts the tax evaded at more than Rs 46 million.

What happens next

• Money laundering cases have been registered under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, against the taxpayers and anyone who helped them make the changes.
• 48 criminal inquiries are under way in regional directorates, and proceedings against the remaining taxpayers have started.
• The FBR says its data analytics will keep looking for this kind of manipulation and that hiding unexplained wealth will be prosecuted.

What this means if you are filing now

1. Declare assets in the year you actually acquired them. A wealth statement is a running record: the closing figure of one year is the opening figure of the next, and IRIS keeps every version.
2. Revise only within five years. If you made a genuine mistake in a recent statement, you can still correct it, but not one whose due date is more than five years ago.
3. Keep the paper trail for cash, gold and prize bonds: bank statements, purchase receipts, gift deeds or inheritance documents. Unexplained cash used to buy property is exactly what triggered this case.
4. Check the tax on what you buy. Filers pay much lower advance tax on property; see the property tax calculator and our guide to withholding tax rates for filers and non-filers.
5. Work out your liability with the income tax calculator before you submit.