FBR collects over Rs1trn tax in a single month

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) achieved a historic milestone by collecting more than Rs 1 trillion in gross revenue in a single month for the first time in December 2023.

According to a press release issued here on Sunday, the FBR collected Rs 1,021 billion in December 2023 and after adjusting refunds of Rs 38 billion issued during the month, reached a net collection of Rs 984 billion which was higher than the targets for the month.

The FBR also surpassed the target of Rs 4,425 billion (as agreed with IMF) for the first six months of the FY 2023-24 by Rs 43 billion and recorded a collection of Rs 4,468 billion. 

This was an increase of more than Rs 1 trillion from the corresponding six months of the previous year, when the FBR collected Rs 3,428 billion.

The FBR achieved this growth despite issuing refunds of Rs 230 billion in the first six months, which was higher than the Rs 177 billion issued in the same period of the previous year. 

The tax board also faced the challenge of import compression, which affected the revenues collected at the import stage. It managed to overcome this challenge by raising more revenues domestically. 

The revenue mix at the import stage and domestic taxes, which used to be 50:50 in the past, has now changed to 36:64. The ratio of direct and indirect taxes has also changed and the share of direct taxes has increased to 49% for the first six months. 

In December alone, the share of direct taxes was 59%. The share of direct taxes also registered an increase of 41% in the first six months as compared to the same period of the previous year. 

Within direct taxes, the FBR reduced the share of withholding taxes from 70% to 55-58% in the past two years. In December 2023, the share of withholding taxes was as low as 40%.

The FBR also highlighted that it collected Rs 1 trillion as annual collection back in 2007-08. It took 50 years to achieve this milestone. However, in a span of only 15 years, this feat has been accomplished in a single month, thanks to the untiring efforts, sheer dedication and hard work of the field formations and the top brass of the FBR.

The Chairman FBR congratulated the Member (Customs Operations), Member (IR- Operations) and their teams for achieving this unassailable task. He also thanked the taxpayers, without whose continuous support and correct declarations, this target could not have been accomplished.