FBR achieves Rs3,394 bn revenue target during July-March

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has achieved provisional revenue collection of Rs3,394 billion during the first nine months (July-March) period of the current fiscal year against Rs3,076 billion in the same period of the last financial year, registering a growth of double-digit first time in the current fiscal.

According to FBR’s announcement made here on Wednesday, the Board has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the first nine months of the current fiscal year. According to the provisional information, FBR has collected net revenue of Rs3,394 billion during the July-March period, which has exceeded the target of Rs3287 billion by more than Rs100 billion. This represents a growth of about 10 percent over the collection of Rs3076 billion during the same period last year.

Now the FBR will have to materialize Rs1323 billion in the last quarter (April-June) period in order to display the revised target of Rs4717 billion on its board by June 30, 2021.

The net collection for the month of March was Rs475 billion, against a required increase of Rs367 billion, representing an increase of 46 percent over Rs325 billion collected in March 2020 and 129 percent of the target. The year-on-year growth of 46 percent is unprecedented. These figures would further improve before the close of the day and after book adjustments have been taken into account.

On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs3178 billion during this period last year to Rs3571 billion this year, showing an increase of 13 percent. The amount of refunds disbursed was Rs177 billion compared to Rs102 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 74 percent. This is reflective of FBR’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry.

The improved revenue performance is a reflection of growing economic activities in the country despite facing the challenge of third wave of COVID-19. During April-June 2021, it is expected that this revenue performance would be improved substantially compared to 2020 when economic activities were disrupted due to COVID.

Meanwhile, FBR’s efforts to broaden the tax base are expending apace. Early signs suggest such efforts are bearing fruits. As on 28-2-2021, income tax returns for tax year 2020 have reached 2.8 million compared to 2.6 million last year, showing an increase of 8 percent. The tax deposited with returns was Rs51 billion compared to only Rs33.0 billion, showing an increase of 54 percent.

It may be recalled that last year the final date for submission to returns was 28th February. FBR’s decision to adhere to 8th December as the last date has been vindicated as more returns and higher tax payments have been recorded during the tax year 2020 compared to 2019. Moreover, a number of 123,680 new Income Tax Returns have been received for Tax Year 2020 resulting into collection of additional tax of Rs511 million.

Sales tax returns for the period from July 2020 to February 2021 have reached 179,584 whereas they were 167,769 in the corresponding months last year, showing an increase of 7.04 percent. The sales tax paid with returns is 624 billion this year which was 536 billion last year, showing an increase of 16.41 percent.

FBR has also released the information about Tier-I retailers who have been integrated with POS system. According to the information, 10283 sales points have been integrated with Point of Sales Linked Invoicing System.