Pakistan Government Amends Fbr Governance Structure And Appointments

On February 24, 2026, the government introduced significant amendments in Parliament aimed at validating past appointments within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and restructuring its governance framework. The proposed changes seek to abolish the FBR's policy board, which currently includes federal ministers and parliamentary representatives, and replace it with a tax policy office led by a senior civil servant. This move is intended to address legal vulnerabilities arising from a Supreme Court ruling that mandates federal cabinet involvement in such appointments, which has rendered many past actions since 2016 legally questionable. The bill states that all appointments made before the commencement of the FBR Amendment Act 2026 shall be deemed valid, and it proposes that the authority to appoint members in grades 21 and 22 be permanently delegated to the Secretary Revenue Division, a grade 22 officer, thus bypassing the cabinet altogether (Profit Pakistan, February 24, 2026).