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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) surpassed its revenue collection target to Rs384bn in April, the second highest collection in the second half of current fiscal year (FY21).
According to provisional data collected by the tax authorities, the FBR maintained a steady momentum in the first ten months of current fiscal year and collected Rs143 billion more than its revised target from July-April.
April has emerged as the second consecutive month when the FBR revenue collection surpassed the projected monthly target. The net collection for April was Rs384bn against a target of Rs350bn, an increase of 9.7 per cent. This showed a growth of 57 percent compared to the collection of Rs244bn in April 2020
The FBR has collected net revenue of Rs3.78 trillion during July 2020-April 2021 period, which has exceeded the target of Rs3.637 trillion by more than Rs143bn. This represents growth of about 14 percent over the collection of Rs3.320 trillion during the same period last year.
The income tax collection during the July-April period stood at Rs1.374 trillion as against the target of Rs1.404 trillion, showing a decline of around Rs30bn.
The sales tax collection jumped 23 percent to Rs1.764 trillion in the first 10 months of FY21 from Rs1.439 trillion in the same period last year. The growth is the result of rise in petroleum prices, increase in imports and revival of economic activities.
Federal excise duty (FED) collections were up 8 percent to Rs223bn as against Rs208bn last year. The FED target for July-April was set at Rs241bn, which was missed by Rs18bn.
Customs collection posted an impressive growth in April. It stood at Rs614bn during the July-April period this year as against Rs595bn over the last year, indicating a growth of 3.2pc. The target projected under Customs was Rs508bn for the period under review.
The FBR also paid Rs195 billion in tax refunds as compared to Rs118 billion paid last year. The government had withdrawn the zero-rating facility for the export-oriented sectors, which led to the higher share of indirect taxes and repayment of refunds.
The government had assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of raising Rs4.96 trillion as against Rs3.99 trillion collected in FY20, a projected increase of 24.4 percent. However, the IMF has revised downward this revenue target to Rs4.691 trillion for current fiscal year.
To achieve the revised target, the FBR will have to collect Rs911bn in May-June period of the current fiscal year. This target now seems achievable if there is no complete lockdown in the country and businesses remain in operation.
