Revenue collection grows 27% to Rs12tr

Withholding, sales tax and excise post strong growth on the back of digital enforcement

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday told the National Assembly that Pakistan recorded a 27% increase in federal revenue collection last fiscal year, achieved through structural reforms, digital monitoring of key sectors and stricter enforcement against tax evasion. He was responding to Calling Attention Notices on the weak state of revenue collection raised by lawmakers concerned.

The minister said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs11.7 trillion compared to Rs9.2 trillion in the previous fiscal year, describing it as an unprecedented increase of nearly Rs5 trillion. He said withholding tax grew by 28%, sales tax by 26%, federal excise duty by 33% and customs duty by 16% during the last fiscal year.

Aurangzeb termed the overall performance strong and structurally driven rather than one-off, adding that Pakistan's tax-to-GDP ratio had already improved from 8.5% to 10.3%. He expressed confidence that it would reach 11% this year, supported by automation and technology-led reforms monitored on a weekly basis by the prime minister to ensure sustained revenue growth and stability ahead.

The finance minister said enforcement efforts were now focused on widening and deepening the tax net. He told the House that nearly Rs200 billion was collected from retailers and wholesalers this year, with around 400,000 non-null returns filed, calling it a real compliance gain. He added that digital production monitoring had begun in the sugar and cement sectors this year.

He said the digital monitoring drive resulted in Rs7 billion and Rs10 billion in additional collections from the sugar and cement sectors respectively between July and November. "These reforms will continue. Technology is the equaliser," he said, urging members of the House to share intelligence on suspected evasion so enforcement could be further tightened across sectors in the coming months.