ISLAMABAD: The federal government has collected around Rs385 billion on account of the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) in the last two years to meet the country’s budgetary revenue targets.
The petroleum levy collection stood at Rs178.874 billion and Rs206.280 billion during fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively, said an official document.
The government often revises oil prices upward and downward through adjustments in the petroleum levy keeping in view the fluctuations in the international oil prices for providing relief to the public.
For the current month, the price of petrol had been decreased by Rs5 per liter, high speed diesel by Rs5, kerosene oil by Rs7 and light diesel oil by Rs7 per liter.
As per the document, the previous government had been increasing the prices of petroleum products whenever the international market went up, but when the prices would go down, it often did not pass the full benefit to the consumers by increasing the tax rate. For example, the document stated the GST on high speed diesel was increased to as high as 57 per cent in 2015-16 when the prices collapsed.
However, when the present government took office, it felt necessary to bring some price stability and transparency. From July 2019, the GST has been fixed at 17pc of the prices. The PDL is also fixed generally around Rs15 per liter.”
Normally, when the changes in the international prices are slight, the government makes minor adjustments in the petroleum levy to keep prices stable but any major variation, up or down, is usually passed on.
On the other hand, the government has already increased up to 106pc the rate of petroleum levy on various oil products to raise an additional revenue of Rs10 billion per month, or at least Rs40 billion by June 30.
The Ministry of Finance increased the petroleum levy on high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7.03 to Rs25.05 per litre for March 2020, from Rs18 per litre in February with an estimate to generate an additional revenue of Rs4.6 billion per month.
[…] post Govt collects Rs385bn from petroleum levy in two years appeared first on Profit by Pakistan […]