The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) surpassed its collection target by 7.82 per cent to hit Rs386 billion in May, the third highest collection in the second half of the current fiscal year (FY21).
The net collection for May was Rs386bn against a target of Rs358bn, an increase of Rs28bn. Compared to the collection of Rs229bn in May 2020, revenue collection posted growth of 69pc.
The FBR has collected net revenue of Rs4.167 trillion during July 2020-May 2021 period (11MFY21), which has exceeded the target of Rs3.994tr by more than Rs173bn or 4.33pc. This represents growth of about 17pc over the collection of Rs3.549tr during the same period last year.
This is the third consecutive month in which FBR’s revenue collection surpassed the projected monthly target despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
On May 29, Prime Minister Imran Khan had commended the tax regulator’s efforts for crossing tax collection of Rs4,000 billion in a fiscal year for the first time ever in Pakistan’s history.
Taking to Twitter, the prime minister said that the tax collections reached Rs4,143 billion during 11MFY21.
“During [July]-May our collections reached Rs.4143 [billion] & still counting – 18% higher than the same period last year,” he said, adding that it reflects broad-based economic revival spurred by government policies.
It is pertinent to mention here that FBR has so far collected Rs4.17 trillion in taxes, and will have to collect Rs790 billion at a growth rate of 71 per cent in the last month of current fiscal year to achieve the annual target.
Anticipating the shortfall, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downward revised its projections for the FBR collection to nearly Rs4.7 trillion for the current fiscal year.
