Revenue collection: FBR gets the job done

Authority collects Rs8.4b more than target in fiscal 2011.

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) surpassed the revenue collection target by Rs8.4 billion and collected Rs1,596.4 billion in fiscal 2011 against the target of Rs1,588 billion, according to provisional figures.

The tax authorities received Rs641 billion as direct taxes and Rs955.4 billion as indirect taxes, according to a document available to The Express Tribune. The indirect tax includes Rs632.7 billion from sales tax, Rs136.9 billion from federal excise duty and Rs185.8 billion from customs duties.

The 2007-08 was the last fiscal year when the government achieved its tax collection target.

Tax collection gathered pace as the year went along as Rs293.4 was collected in the first quarter, Rs368.2 billion in the second, Rs358.2 billion in the third and Rs576.6 billion in the final quarter, according to the revenue chart.

The recent collection brings Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 9.2 per cent, the second-lowest in the region after Bangladesh.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2011.