PESHAWAR: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)-Peshawar has posted a 100pc surge in the collection of federal excise duty, as the department collected Rs1.92 billion from tobacco companies during the first eight months of the current financial year.
Talking to this scribe, FBR Land Revenue Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Tariq said for the first time in the history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FED collection has increased by 100pc in eight months.
In the last fiscal, the FBR-Peshawar had collected Rs1.75 billion in total. However, during the first eight months of the current financial year, around Rs1.8 billion has been received from 17 tobacco companies.
He said during the coming four month, the department would collect an additional Rs1 billion FED.
Meanwhile, sources in the FBR have informed that due to an ineffective border management system, a high amount of cigarettes are being smuggled from Afghanistan into the country which not only causes the local manufacturers to suffer billions of rupees in losses but also hurts the government in terms of FED, sales tax, income tax evasion.
The government had recently ordered the strengthening of border management and prevention of goods smuggling.
Despite the presence of all officials at Torkham border, the government couldn’t curb cigarette smuggling, sources maintained.
They said that if smuggling was stopped, the income from federal excise duty, sales tax, income tax from tobacco could be increased by 200pc.
“A few years ago, tax on tobacco trash was increased from Rs10 to Rs300 per Kilogramme, but the ministers in KP government, who were associated with tobacco business, intervened and reduced it back to Rs10. If it increases from Rs10 to Rs100, the government can earn billions of rupees per annum,” an official source said.
Currently, there are 25 tobacco companies operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — seven tobacco trashing factories, one field rod and 17 cigarette-making factories.
