WHT lines, T&T system and single portal: DLIs lag behind targets under PRR project: World Bank

ISLAMABAD: The Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) regarding reduction in withholding tax (WHT) lines, implementation of track and trace system, harmonisation of definition of goods and services, and rollout of single portal to all sectors are lagging behind the targets under the Pakistan Raises Revenue project, says the World Bank.

Official documents revealed that the bank has rated the overall implementation progress of the project worth $400 million moderately satisfactory, observing that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is taking measures to address challenges and improve implementation of these DLIs.

The bank’s official documents revealed that $328.75 million, i.e. 83.22 percent of the financing have been disbursed so far while undisbursed amount stands at $66.28 million.

PRR project: World Bank approves additional $70m credit

The bank has approved an additional $70 million credit in June 2025 for the project to boost Pakistan’s domestic revenue collection and improve tax compliance. This additional financing brings the total amount of resources under the project to $470 million.

The bank stated that overall satisfactory progress is noted towards achievement of project development objectives. There is improved performance in several Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs; also mentioned as Performance Based Conditions), as confirmed by the third party validation report and the World Bank team. The tax expenditure and revenue forecast reports have been published for fiscal year 2024, while reports for fiscal year 2025 are being prepared (DL1 2).

Single returns portal for GST and General Sales Tax on Services (GSTS) has been rolled out with four provincial GSTS authorities, covering the telecom, microfinance and oil and gas sectors (DLI 7). Key Performance Indicators based bi-annual and annual progress reports have been published for fiscal year 2024 (DLI 10).

The FBR has achieved project-end targets of DLI 5 (identification of new taxpayers through automated data sharing and ICT-based business intelligence), DLI 6 (risk-based audit), DLI 9 (FBR core business processes simplified and automated), and DLI 10 (organizational effectiveness and transparency). However, DLIs 1 (reduction in WHT lines), 4 (implementation of track and trace system), 3 & 7 (harmonization of definition of goods and services, and rollout of single portal to all sectors) are lagging behind relevant targets. The FBR is taking measures to address challenges and improve implementation of these DLIs.

The procurement of equipment for data center under component 2 are in process. As per the government’s request, the project restructuring and additional financing for its Component 2 has been approved. The additional financing will support activities in FBR’s new transformation plan until fiscal year 2027.

The technical streams have not been established in FBR. However, the FBR officers are assigned to different positions relevant to technical/core and non-core functions, such as procurement, internal audit, communications etc.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

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