ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has so far collected Rs 3,965 billion in taxes in the seven-month period (July-January) and will have to collect another Rs 3,505 billion in the remaining five months (February-June). . To meet the target of Rs 7,470 billion for the current financial year.
According to an FBR announcement, the tax machinery has exceeded the tax collection target for January 2023 by a margin of just Rs 4 billion. Its total stood at Rs 537 billion against the fixed target of Rs 533 billion. However, the FBR faced a revenue shortfall of Rs 225 billion in the December 2022 target.
FBR officials have argued that December 2022 was wrongly set at a high level and would enable them to achieve the target set for income tax, sales tax and federal excise duty (FED). . However, it may face a shortfall of Rs 170 billion due to customs duty collection.
The latest estimates suggest that exchange rate depreciation will help the FBR to contain the expected deficit in the current fiscal year.
According to the official statement issued by the FBR, the revenue collector has not only achieved the monthly budget target of Rs 533 billion during January 2023, but also exceeded it by Rs 4 billion.
According to provisional data, FBR collected Rs 537 billion in the month of January, which is 23% higher than the same month last year.
Overall, the FBR has collected Rs 3,965 billion in the first seven months of the current financial year, which shows a growth of 18 percent compared to Rs 3,367 billion collected in the same period last year.
The statement said that the third quarter of the current financial year has started with a strong performance and the FBR is committed to meet the annual budget target of Rs 7,470 billion for the current financial year despite economic challenges.
According to the tax regulator, the collection of direct taxes has increased by 48% during the first seven months of the current financial year.
It has also been highlighted that the FBR’s administrative and enforcement measures have yielded results, largely reflected in the increase in direct taxes in special and household taxes.
During the same period, household taxes increased by 40 percent. The share of domestic tax has also increased from 50% last year to 59% this year.
Moreover, it is also important to note that the customs duty collection in the month of January has increased by 16% compared to the same month last year.
Moreover, the FBR has not relented in taking care of exporters’ liquidity problems and issued refunds worth Rs 208 billion during the first seven months of the current financial year, as against Rs 183 billion during the same period last year. 14% more than Refunds issued for previous year.
