Tax collection for February beats last year’s figures

Still off the required pace to reach the annual target.

ISLAMABAD:

The tax authorities have bagged Rs1.105 trillion taxes from July through February of the current fiscal year, maintaining 26 per cent growth necessary to reach the annual target of Rs1.95 trillion.

The collection is Rs229 billion or 26.1 per cent higher than last year’s collection in the same period, they added. The breakup of individual taxes was not immediately available as these figures are based on online reporting system.

The Rs1,105 billion revenues are 56.6 per cent of the annual target.

Sources in the Federal Board of Revenue told The Express Tribune that according to provisional collection figures, the authorities have raised Rs130 billion in taxes in February. During first seven months the FBR had pooled Rs975 billion.

The Rs130 billion provisional collection in February is Rs6 billion lower than the monthly target. For February the FBR has set Rs136.1 billion collection target. But it is 22.7 per cent higher than the collection for last February.

Former Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz faction has attributed the increasing revenues to last year’s tax figure fudging saga. In June 2011, the FBR had taken Rs42 billion advances from various government owned institutions in its attempts to achieve the then Rs1,588 billion target.

Senator Dar said since the FBR remained unable to adjust the advances in the previous year collection it reflected the amount in July’s collection -first month of current fiscal year, which led to an exceptional revenue growth of 45 per cent over the previous July collection. Dar had raised this issue in Senate Standing Committee on Finance meeting held on Monday.

Senator Dar had also said that the federal government was not paying three provinces’ share in sales tax collection on services. This was also confirmed by Punjab Finance Department spokesman Faisal Rasheed. He told The Express Tribune that this year despite lapse of eight months the federal government has not yet transferred its share in GST on services.

Last year the FBR had transferred Rs58 billion to four provinces on account of their share in GST on services.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2012.