Pakistan’s tax body targets lavish lifestyles through social media monitoring

September 24, 2025 (MLN): Lavish weddings and luxury lifestyles are coming under scrutiny in Pakistan as tax authorities introduce a new “Lifestyle Monitoring Cell” to track social media posts of high spenders.

A team of 40 investigators from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has begun scouring Instagram, TikTok and YouTube this week to match influencers, celebrities, realtors and businesspeople with tax filings that appear inconsistent with their visible wealth.

“It’s open-source, their Instagram accounts are a public declaration,” said a senior FBR official, noting that tax evasion cases can be initiated within hours. The FBR did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The monitoring unit has been established to address Pakistan’s chronic revenue shortfalls and meet ambitious collection targets set under this year’s IMF-backed budget.

Despite nearly two dozen IMF programmes, the country continues to struggle with one of Asia’s lowest tax-to-GDP ratios, while less than 2% of the population pays income tax, as reported by Reuters.

The unit will “systematically monitor, scour and analyse data from major social media platforms” to identify individuals displaying wealth but either not registered for tax or declaring income at odds with their spending and assets.

It will create digital profiles, compile evidence such as screenshots and timestamps, and prepare reports for possible tax or money laundering investigations.

Officials said one wedding currently under review carried an estimated cost of 248 million rupees ($878,000).

Documents indicated around $283,000 was spent on diamond and gold sets, while bridal outfits from leading South Asian designers cost $124,000.

The six-day celebration featured floral archways, drone light shows, multi-course meals for 400 guests, renowned makeup artists, DJs, qawwali performances and international consultants managing choreography.

Investigators are also reviewing videos of luxury cars, upscale properties and influencers flaunting extravagant lifestyles. “People themselves tag the event managers, the caterers, the jewellers, etc. It makes our work easy,” said another official, adding that the families involved in the wedding under review declared incomes far below their visible expenditures.

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