Zehra Farooq
Secretary for Revenue Operations & Analysis, Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue
Zehra Farooq is Secretary for Revenue Operations & Analysis at Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue, where she co-leads reforms on enforcement, compliance, and evidence-based policymaking. She received her PhD in Economics from the US as a Fulbright Scholar. Her research focuses on tax compliance, audits, and the design of enforcement mechanisms in developing countries, and she has published in policy and academic outlets. She successfully converted the findings of her PhD dissertation into Pakistan’s fiscal policy 2025. She works at the intersection of research and policy, shaping Pakistan’s tax transformation and contributing to global debates on revenue mobilization in developing countries.
Recent work by Zehra Farooq
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Turning paper trails into revenue: Strengthening Pakistan’s tax system
Pakistan’s tax system shows that even with extensive withholding and VAT-based reporting, weak documentation and limited enforcement capacity – exacerbated by political resistance – undermine revenue collection, highlighting the need to strengthen bo...
Published 25.09.25