The goal of implementing comprehensive digitisation of the tax system was to include the “wealthiest five per cent of the population” in the tax net, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial said on Thursday.

“Currently FBR has evolved its data analytic systems. The total tax gap was Rs7.1 trillion,” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

“We are mainly focusing on the top five per cent in terms of revenue collection and out of the top five per cent people, which are 3.3 million, 600,000 people have so far filed their returns.”

The FBR chief noted that such individuals have an average income of 4.8 billion, which places them in the taxable category, and added that the average income of the top one per cent exceeds this figure.

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Only 38,000 people – out of the 190,000 – filed returns and paid Rs370 million tax, Langrial said and added that notices were issued to 169,000 wealthy non-filers.

His comments followed the government’s initiative to boost the tax-to-GDP ratio from the current 10 per cent to 13.5 per cent over the next three years. He emphasised that proposed changes to tax laws are expected to enhance both tax collection and compliance across the nation.

Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, State Finance Minister Ali Pervaiz, and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accompanied him at the press conference.