Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue established a National Faceless Centre on 25 September 2026 to remove direct contact between taxpayers and tax officers during audit and assessment proceedings. The system was designed to allocate cases electronically and separate audit, assessment and quality control functions.
Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced on 25 September 2026 the establishment of the National Faceless Centre (NFC) in Islamabad, introducing a system that removes direct, in-person contact between taxpayers and tax officers during audits and assessments.
Computerised case selection
Under the new system, audit cases will be selected through a computerised, risk-based system rather than by an individual officer. Each selected case will then be automatically assigned to an officer, who may be based anywhere in Pakistan.
Taxpayers will not know the identity of the officer handling their case, while officers will have no discretion over which cases are assigned to them.
Separate audit and assessment
The NFC will divide each case among three officers. One officer will conduct the audit, another will make the assessment, and a third will review the work for quality before an order is issued.
No single officer will therefore control a taxpayer’s case from the start of the audit through to the final order.
Electronic proceedings
All notices, replies and hearings will take place electronically through FBR’s IRIS system.
Where the law requires physical verification or recovery, the work will be carried out separately by a field team rather than the officer handling the faceless proceedings.
Legal framework and structure
The NFC derives its legal authority from the Finance Act, 2026 and will be headed by a Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue.
It will have dedicated wings covering faceless audit, faceless assessment, quality control and field operations. A Programme Management Unit has also been established to oversee the rollout.
Reform objectives
The reform aims to ensure the same rules are applied to taxpayers, with decisions based on data rather than personal judgement. It also seeks to eliminate face-to-face contact between taxpayers and tax officers, which has been a source of complaints.
FBR expects the NFC to make tax proceedings faster, fairer and more transparent for taxpayers across Pakistan.
