FBR collects Rs143 bn in first month of financial year

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected Rs143 billion during July 2015 against the collection of Rs133 billion in the same month of the last financial year 2014-15.
The toll of getting advances in last month (June 2015) to increase the FBR’s collection during the fiscal year 2014-15 will now have to bear the brunt as the tax collection witnessed a dip whereby the tax machinery was facing a shortfall in the range of Rs15 billion from the start of the first month during the current fiscal year.
According to provisional figures of the FBR on Friday evening, the gross collection of the Board stood at Rs157 billion and after repayment of refunds worth Rs14.6 billion, the net collection was standing at Rs135 billion during the first month (July) of the current fiscal year 2015-16 against the FBR’s claimed figures of Rs133 billion in July 2014-15.
It is relevant to mention here that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had shown the FBR’s collection of Rs124 billion during July 2014.The FBR has not yet officially confirmed its monthly or quarterly target to achieve the achieve highly ambitious tax collection target of Rs3,104 billion for the ongoing fiscal year against revenue collection of Rs2,588 billion for the last financial year 2014-15 that ended on June 30, 2015.
Keeping in view historical trend, the FBR envisaged over 5 percent collection out of total fixed collection target so its collection should be standing at over Rs157 billion for July 2015 against total collection target of Rs3,104 billion for whole financial year of 2015-16.
When contacted, FBR’s Senior Member Inland Revenue (IR) Policy Shahid Hussain Asad said that the FBR was expecting to increase its collection by few billion rupees more as the banks and some other sectors were going to deposit their taxes on Friday so the total collection was expected to go up.
He said that the FBR so far collected Rs2.4 billion on July 31, 2015 against collection of Rs9.6 billion on the same date of the last financial year. “We expect that our collection may touch Rs10 billion till finalising of revenue collection figures on last day of July,” he added.
The FBR has been facing a gigantic task for collecting Rs3,104 billion without broadening of tax base, so efforts are underway to pursue non-filers to file their income tax returns, declare their assets genuinely and contribute by paying due taxes into the national kitty.