PM Imran commends FBR on record tax collection of Rs384b in April

Prime Minister Imran Khan has commended the efforts of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that resulted in a record tax collection of Rs384 billion during the month of April.

"I commend the FBR efforts on achieving growth of 57 per cent," the prime minister said in a social media post on Saturday while comparing the figure with the amount of tax – Rs240 billion – collected during the same month last year.

The PM claimed that the current government's policies have led to a "broad-based econ[omic] revival." "During July-April, the collections reached 3,780 billion rupees, 14 per cent higher than the same period last year," the premier added.

Earlier it was reported that the tax collection body maintained a steady momentum and received Rs3.78 trillion in taxes in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year but its dependence on indirect taxes further increased to 64% of the total receipts.

Read more: Indirect taxes drive FBR revenues

The provisional results for July-April showed that the FBR collected Rs143 billion more than its revised target. The collection was almost equally made at the import stage where nearly one out of every two rupees was collected.

The FBR collected Rs3.78 trillion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as against Rs3.32 trillion in the same period of last fiscal year, registering a growth of nearly 14%, said the provisional results.

The collection was Rs460 billion higher as compared to the same period of last fiscal year. The FBR managed to exceed the sales tax and customs duty collection targets, but missed the targets of income tax and federal excise duty.

The increasing collection at the import stage and growing reliance on indirect taxes remained the two distinctive features of the FBR’s revenue performance in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Indirect taxes have also contributed to higher prices, including those of sugar and edible oil.

Out of Rs3.78 trillion, an amount of Rs1.72 trillion was generated at the import stage on account of income tax, sales tax and customs duty. This was equal to 46% of the total taxes pooled by the FBR in the current fiscal year.

The 10-month collection was Rs143 billion more than its target of around Rs3.64 trillion. However, the Rs3.78 trillion collections are on the basis of a downward revised annual target of Rs4.7 trillion. The parliament had approved Rs4.963 trillion tax collection target for the FBR.

The FBR also paid Rs195 billion in tax refunds as compared to Rs118 billion paid last year. The government had withdrawn the zero-rating facility for the export-oriented sectors, which became a reason for the higher share of indirect taxes and repayment of refunds.