ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Lifestyle Monitoring Cell has identified taxpayers displaying lavish lifestyles while declaring negligible income in their returns, The News reported on Monday.
The Cell has forwarded dossiers on additional suspected tax dodgers to FBR headquarters and the relevant Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) to initiate formal proceedings.
Some individuals showcase substantial assets and earnings on social media yet report little of substance in their income tax filings.
According to data available with The News, the owner of a Lahore-based fintech company holds 30 late-model vehicles valued at Rs2.741 billion, including a Lamborghini Aventador (yellow) worth Rs300 million, a Rolls-Royce Phantom (silver) Rs250 million, a Lamborghini Aventador (black) Rs300 million, among others.
A travel influencer displayed on social media that she travelled to more than 25 countries in the last five years, from 2021 to 2025, but declared income ranging from Rs442,046 to Rs3.79 million.
Another social media influencer, model and content creator from Islamabad travelled to 13 countries and owns Zari Zam Jewellery, multiple luxury clothing items from international brands, Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM Handbag, Gucci apparel and accessories.
They transitioned from a Honda Civic to a Toyota Land Cruiser V8, and display a Dior Book Tote Bag, a Rolex Watch, high-end winter apparel, luxury resort wear accessories and expensive electric gadgets, but declared income ranging from Rs3.5 million to Rs5.49 million in the last few years.
The FBR has scrutinised the assets and income of potential tax-evaders at a time when the tax machinery is facing a challenging task to achieve the annual tax collection target of Rs14.13 trillion. The Board faces a shortfall of Rs274 billion in the first four months (July-Oct) of the current fiscal year.
The CEO and founder of a Fintech and digital solution company explicitly showcased a luxurious lifestyle on social media with high-end vehicles and other assets. However, scrutiny showed that none of the expensive vehicles acquired by the taxpayer were declared in the income tax declarations.
The taxpayer was registered with the FBR in 2019. A comparison of the income tax declarations of the taxpayer and the company reveals a significant discrepancy.
This taxpayer revised his income from tax year 2019 to 2025. For instance, he filed an income of Rs523,493 in 2019 but revised it and declared Rs3.4 million. Declared Rs498.193 in the original return in 2020 but revised and showed an income of Rs2.9 million.
He declared an income of Rs2.8 million in 2022 but revised returns, declaring an income of Rs3.38 million, showed an income of Rs5.1 million and showed the same in revised returns in 2023, showed zero income in 2024, but in revised returns declared Rs67.9 million and Rs131.4 million in original return, but revised his return and showed income of Rs181.14 million in 2025.
Through revised returns, he enhanced his business capital from Rs750,000 to Rs11 million and jacked up the amount of gold from 10 tola to 50 tola.
He introduced animals worth Rs4.9 million, which were enhanced to Rs10.06 million in 2025 despite the fact that he owns no agricultural land and his whole life has centred on information technology. He enhanced cash from Rs175,000 to Rs7.34 million, and introduced a watch collection worth Rs2.34 million.
He possesses 30 latest model vehicles, having a value of Rs2.741 billion in total. Each of the vehicles is worth millions of rupees. The cost of 30 vehicles alone is 937 times greater than the net assets of the taxpayer filed for tax year 2019. The FBR has found that a huge amount of concealed income was spent to finance this luxury-centric lifestyle.
A travel influencer and prolific international traveller from Lahore, who travelled to Thailand and the UAE in 2021, declared an income of Rs442,046 in her return.
In 2022, she travelled to Turkey, Spain, Bosnia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia (Umra) and Dubai but declared an income of just Rs636,866 in her return. In 2023, she travelled to Cambodia, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, the UK, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia, but declared an income of Rs542,988 in her return.
In 2024, she travelled to the USA, Canada, various EU countries, and Singapore, but declared only Rs2.9 million in return. In 2025, she travelled to the Maldives and declared an income of Rs3.79 million in return.
The third one is a prominent social media influencer, model, and content creator from Islamabad, and she has travelled to 13 countries in the last five years, including Thailand, UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, the UK, Iran, China, Switzerland, Singapore and the Maldives.
In tax year 2022, she declared an income of Rs3.5 million and personal expenses of Rs0.81 million, yet in the same year travelled to three international destinations and acquired a Louis Vuitton Handbag.