ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) faces a mammoth revenue shortfall of over Rs116 billion in the monthly tax collection target for August 2024.
This massive shortfall in just one month would increase pressure on the IMF to force the government to take additional taxation measures through a mini budget in the coming months. The overall fiscal framework, including cutting down expenditures, especially development expenditures in the shape of Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) and additional taxation measures, might come on the agenda of IMF along with external financing needs.
The provisional collection of FBR stood at Rs782 billion till Friday evening against the fixed target of Rs898 billion for August 2024. “We are expecting a few billion more and the collection may touch Rs794 billion maximum for August 2024,” top sources confirmed while talking to The News on Friday night.
Pakistan has agreed with the IMF for tax collection of Rs2,652 billion for the first quarter (July-September) period. The IMF has already warned that if the tax collection target was missed out with a margin of 2 percent or witnessed a shortfall of Rs60 billion, then the government will have to take additional taxation measures through a mini budget.
The FBR’s annual tax collection has been put at Rs12,970 billion for Financial Year (FY2025) budget approved by parliament but the IMF agreed to reduce it to Rs12,913 billion.
In July 2024, the FBR surpassed its target by Rs3.8 billion. The net tax collection grew by 23 percent with tax collection at Rs659.8 billion from Rs538.4 billion in same month of the last year.
For August 2024, the monthly target was envisaged at Rs898 billion and for September 2024 the monthly target was fixed at Rs1,098 billion. In total, the first quarter tax collection target was fixed at Rs2,652 billion. Now in August 2024, the FBR has faced a major revenue shortfall in achieving the monthly target. This scribe made all out efforts to contact FBR chairman and other officials but no one could be reached.