FBR exceeds eight-month revenue collection target by Rs18 bn

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has exceeded its collection by Rs18 billion in the first eight months (July-Feb) period as the tax machinery fetched revenues of Rs2,916 billion against the desired target of Rs2,898 billion.

The FBR has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the first eight months of current fiscal year. According to the provisional information, the FBR has collected net revenue of Rs2,916 billion during Jul-Feb period, which has exceeded the target of Rs2,898 billion. This represents a growth of about 6pc over the collection of Rs2,750 billion during the same period last year.

The net collection for the month of February was Rs343 billion against a required target of Rs325 billion, representing an increase of 8pc over last February and 106pc of the target. When finalized after book adjustments, the collection figures are likely to improve further.

On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs2,823 billion during this period last year to Rs3,068 billion, showing an increase of nearly 9pc. The amount of refunds disbursed was Rs152 billion compared to Rs79 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 97pc. This is reflective of FBR’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry.

The improved revenue performance is a reflection of growing economic activities in the country despite facing continued challenge of second wave of COVID-19. During March-June 2021, it is expected that this revenue performance would be improved substantially compared to 2020 when economic activities were disrupted.

Meanwhile, the FBR’s efforts to broaden the tax base are expanding apace. Early signs suggest such efforts are bearing fruits. As on 28-2-2021, income tax returns for the tax year 2020 have reached 2.62 million compared to 2.43 million last year, showing an increase of 8pc. The tax deposited with returns was Rs.49.6 billion compared to only Rs31.0 billion, showing an increase of 60pc. It may be recalled that last year the final date for submission to returns was 28th February. The FBR’s decision to adhere to 8th December as the last date has been vindicated as more returns and higher tax payments have been recorded during the tax year 2020 as compared to 2019.

Besides, the FBR has issued notices to nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were supposed to file returns, or have filed a nil return, or mis-declared their assets or have not been filing return for sales tax to comply with their legal obligations. The exercise is eliciting encouraging response. However, those who are not complying would be pursued diligently until compliance is achieved.

The FBR has also released the information about Tier-I retailers who have been integrated with POS system. According to the information, 9,952 sales points have been integrated with Point of Sales Linked Invoicing System.

The Pakistan Customs has initiated a focused counter-smuggling drive. During February 2021, smuggled goods worth Rs4.08 billion have been seized while in February 2020 smuggled goods worth Rs3.02 billion were seized, thus showing a monthly increase of 35.18pc. Similarly, during the last eight months (July 2020-Feb 2021) of current financial year, smuggled goods worth Rs39.52 billion have been seized as compared to Rs25.10 billion from July 2019 to February 2020 of the last financial year, thus showing an increase of 57.45pc. Moreover, the value of seized goods of Rs39.52 billion in eight months of the current FY has crossed the total value of seized goods of last year. In FY 2019-20, smuggled goods worth Rs36 billion were seized.