ISLAMABAD: The growth in revenue collection of the Federal Board or Revenue (FBR) is unlikely to go beyond 26 percent against the required 44 percent to achieve Rs 5.5 trillion tax target for the current fiscal year, reported Business Recorder.
The current trend suggests that by the end of the fiscal year there would be a shortfall of over Rs600 billion in FBR revenue collection as total tax collection, claims the report.
There was a shortfall of Rs164 billion in FBR revenue collection during July-October (2019-20) as total collection stood at Rs1,283 billion against the target of Rs1,447 billion for the first four months of the current fiscal year.
FBR officials quoted in the report say that the shortfall in revenue collection was primarily because of contraction in imports as more than 31 percent revenue is collected at import stage in the form of customs duty, withholding tax and general sales tax. The report points out that there was a contraction of $3 billion in import bill during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (around Rs506 billion), and its impact on total FBR revenue collection during the first quarter was recorded at Rs125 billion.
An official of the finance ministry quoted in the media report said that a shortfall in revenue collection would consequently widen fiscal deficit and may negatively impact on meeting primary deficit target agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility.
