ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed to achieve its tax collection target of Rs965 billion for December 2022, registering a revenue shortfall of Rs 225 billion.
According to available data, the FBR has so far collected Rs 3.428 trillion in the first half (July-December) period of the current fiscal year against the assigned target of Rs 3.673 trillion. The FBR collected Rs 2.9 trillion in the same period (July-Dec) of the last financial year 2021-22.
The FBR statement issued Saturday night shows, it collected Rs. 740 billion for December 2022 against Rs. 599 billion in the same month last year, showing an impressive growth of almost 24% as compared to the same month last year. This performance is despite huge import compression and zero rating on petroleum.
Overall, the FBR has collected Rs3428 billion for the first six months of the current fiscal year.
Direct taxes collection showed growth of 66 percent during the month of December 2022 compared to December 2021. Direct taxes collection for the first six months also registered a growth of 49 percent.
Direct tax collection for the first six months has also registered an unprecedented growth of 49%. This was achieved despite the fact that certain policy interventions having revenue impact of Rs. 250 billion introduced through Finance Act 2022 could not be implemented as these are sub judice in courts. Target for December was Rs. 965 billion which could not be achieved due to the aforementioned reason.
The revenue collection performance is also exceptional when viewed in the context that the FBR has also issued refunds of Rs.176 billion during the first half of the current financial year against Rs. 149 billion during the corresponding period of last year.
