Islamabad, September 26, 2025 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has officially withdrawn the controversial column requiring taxpayers to declare the estimated market value of their assets in the annual income tax return for tax year 2025. The decision was taken on the instructions of the Prime Minister, aimed at easing the compliance burden and addressing widespread criticism from stakeholders. Earlier, the FBR had introduced a column in the IRIS system that demanded filers to disclose the fair market value of both movable and immovable assets. This step was justified as a data collection exercise to build a stronger fiscal record and support research for the Economic Survey. However, the addition drew strong objections from taxpayers, legal experts, and business groups who argued that estimating market value for diverse assets would be cumbersome, subjective, and likely to create disputes. To resolve the matter, the Prime Minister formed a high-level committee chaired by the Federal Minister for Law, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar. Members included the Federal Minister for Petroleum, Minister of State for Finance,…