LTO Karachi collects Rs557bln in five months

KARACHI: The Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) Karachi rolled up Rs557 billion in first five months (July–November) of this fiscal year, up 9 percent over the same period last year, mostly because of an improved collection of domestic taxes, The News learnt.

According to the latest data, the net collection of the tax office was Rs557 billion during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to Rs509 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The LTO Karachi is the biggest revenue collecting arm of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as it contributes around 35 percent of tax collection at national level. Overall the FBR collected Rs1,688 billion during July–November 2020/2021 as compared with Rs1,623 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, showing a growth of 4 percent.

Sources at the LTO Karachi said the tax office managed to post 9 percent growth due to revival of domestic economic activities in the post lockdown period. They, however, said the projection of revenue collection in the remaining months was not optimistic due to the second wave of coronavirus.

The tax office also issued Rs28 billion as income tax and sales tax refunds during the first five months of the current fiscal year, which is 64 percent higher when compared with refunds amount Rs17 billion paid in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The breakup of revenue collection by the LTO Karachi revealed, the net collection of direct taxes registered 13 percent growth to Rs70 billion during the period under review as compared with Rs62.2 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The sources said the collection of direct taxes had grown due to improved profitability of major corporate and manufacturing units in the post lockdown period.

Similarly, sales tax collection on domestic supplies posted 36 percent growth to Rs122 billion during July–November 2020 as compared with Rs89.64 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.