Fiscal Fraud in the Customs Act: Section 32A Explained

Written 6 November 2026. FBR's draft amendment to the licence renewal rule (FBR lists it as draft SRO 2088(I)/2026) would change "tax fraud" to "fiscal fraud" in two places: the affidavit you swear when you renew, and one of the grounds for refusing a renewal. We covered the draft in our piece on rule 96. This post answers the question that piece left open: what does "fiscal fraud" mean in customs law?

The draft is still a draft. Nothing below is in force under rule 96 yet.

Section 32A of the Customs Act is titled "Fiscal fraud"

The Customs Act, 1969 has its own section headed "Fiscal fraud": section 32A. As consolidated by FBR "as amended up to 30th June, 2026", section 32A(1) says that if any person, "in connection with any matter related to customs":

(a) "causes to submit documents including those filed electronically, which are concocted, altered, mutilated, false, forged, tempered or counterfeit to a functionary of customs";
(b) "declares in the [goods declaration] electronically filed customs declaration, the name and address of any exporter or importer which is physically non-existent at the given address";
(c) "declares in the [goods declaration] electronically filed customs declaration, an untrue information regarding [payment of duties and taxes through self-assessment,] description, quantity, quality, origin and value of goods";
(ca) "declares value which is significantly higher or lower than the actual value, that is, the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to Pakistan", subject to conditions or limitations the Board may prescribe by rules;
(d) "alters, mutilates or suppresses any finding of the customs functionary on any document or in the computerized record"; or
(e) "attempts, abets or connives in any action mentioned in clauses (a), (b), [(c),(ca)] and (d) above",

then "he shall be guilty of an offence under this section". (Square brackets are as printed in FBR's consolidation, where they mark later amendments.)

Two more parts of the section matter here:

Section 32A(2): where duty, tax, fee, fine or penalty has not been levied, has been short-levied or has been refunded because of any of the acts above, the person liable is to be served a show-cause notice "within a period of 180 days of the date of detection".
A proviso to section 32A(2): "an offence, having no revenue implication but covered under sub-section (1), shall also be served with show cause notice within a period of one hundred and eighty days of detection of such fraud for penal action under the relevant provisions of law."

Why this matters to a clearing agent

Almost every act in section 32A(1) is about the goods declaration and the documents filed with Customs: a false document, a non-existent importer or exporter, an untrue description or value, a value far from the price actually paid. Clause (e) covers anyone who "attempts, abets or connives" in those acts. And the proviso makes clear that a case can arise even where no revenue was lost.

The draft would put "fiscal fraud" into your renewal affidavit and into a ground for refusing renewal. We are careful about one thing. The draft does not cross-refer to section 32A, so it does not say rule 96's "fiscal fraud" means exactly section 32A. What we can say is that section 32A is the Customs Act's own provision under that title, and that the Customs Rules already use the term with that reference elsewhere.

The term is already in the Customs Rules

Rule 1096(2)(o) (licensing of cargo tracking companies) asks for an undertaking that the company "has not been involved in confirmed cases of fiscal fraud including that specified in section 32A of the Act". "Including" makes section 32A an example, not the whole definition.
Rule 893(5), in an export-scheme chapter of the Rules: where, after a post-exportation audit, "it is found and established after due process of law that the user is guilty of fiscal fraud", the owner, proprietor, partners or directors "may be blacklisted for any trade by blacklisting the CNIC in the WeBOC or PSW system".

What to do with this

If you renew while the draft is pending or after it is finalised, read section 32A before signing an affidavit that refers to fiscal fraud.
Treat the acts in section 32A(1) as the checklist for your own filings: documents, importer and exporter details, and declared description, quantity, quality, origin and value.
If you or your association want to comment on the draft, the objection window is ten days from its publication in the official Gazette. The instrument does not give that date, so watch for it.

Read on 6 November 2026 at the page images: section 32A in FBR's Customs Act, 1969, as amended up to 30th June, 2026 (printed pages 45 and 46); rules 893(5) and 1096(2)(o) in FBR's consolidated Customs Rules, 2001 (file dated October 2025). Check for any amendment after those dates. This is general information, not legal advice.