ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is struggling to meet its monthly tax collection target for the outgoing month (August 2025), mainly due to devastating floods and a decline in energy consumption.
The FBR has so far collected Rs880 billion in August 2025 against the desired target of Rs951 billion envisaged for the outgoing month. Owing to severe floods in different parts of the country, the FBR has faced a revenue shortfall of approximately Rs20 to Rs25 billion.
The FBR fetched Rs1.64 trillion in the first two months (July and August) of 2025. The FBR’s tax collection stood at Rs762 billion in July 2025 against the assigned target of Rs750 billion.
For August 2025, the FBR collected Rs880 billion so far against the fixed target of Rs950 billion. “Owing to reduced consumption of both power and gas utilities, there is a major decline of Rs40 to Rs45 billion in tax revenues,” said an official.
The FBR envisages a tax collection target of Rs1.385 trillion for September 2025. However, keeping in view the shortfall so far in the first two months, the FBR requires a collection of Rs1.44 trillion in September to materialise the desired target of Rs3.08 trillion by September 30, 2025.
The FBR high-ups hope that the tax collection might increase further and touch Rs910 billion for the outgoing month, but the desired target of Rs951 billion would be hard to achieve. For the current fiscal year 2025-26, the FBR faces a gigantic task of collecting Rs14.13 trillion by June 30, 2026. This cannot be achieved without broadening the tax base, documentation of the economy, and effective enforcement to bring all kinds of income into the tax net.
The FBR’s tax collection target is typically divided into a 40:60 percent ratio in the first and second half of every financial year. However, tax collection materialises mainly in September, December, March and June in order to achieve the desired annual target.
The FBR failed to achieve last fiscal year’s target approved by Parliament, which was set at Rs12.97 trillion. Even after two downward revisions, it could only fetch Rs11.72 trillion in FY25, which ended on June 30, 2025.
