Below par: FBR misses revenue collection target again

Repeated concessions to businessmen nibble at tax collection drive.

ISLAMABAD:

The PML-N government’s consistent policy of giving in to demands from the business community has dented the state’s revenues, as the national tax collection agency significantly fell short of its first five months’ target, collecting only Rs806 billion despite blocking refunds of taxpayers.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) missed its collection target of Rs840 billion for the July-November period of fiscal year 2013-14, and chances of covering the shortfall in the coming months diminished due to over two dozen tax concessions given to the business community in just five months.

According to provisional figures for the July-November period, the tax collecting agency collected Rs806 billion, showing an increase of Rs120 billion or 17.5% over the comparative period of the previous year.

The growth in collection remained encouraging but was not sufficient to hit the benchmark of Rs840 billion. The FBR’s annual target for the current fiscal year is Rs2.475 trillion, which requires a growth in tax collection of about 28% over the previous year.

The FBR has already stated that due to these concessions, the budget has become irrelevant.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already lowered its projection and included Rs2.345 trillion in its fiscal framework, which is Rs130 billion less than the official target.

In the month of November, the FBR’s performance was comparatively better than the previous four months.

The FBR surpassed the monthly target of Rs167 billion and bagged Rs169.4 billion, claimed Shahid Hussain Asad, the spokesman for the FBR, who is also member Inland Revenue Policy. He said the collection has started picking up and the FBR recorded a 21% growth over last November’s collection of Rs140 billion.

The figures that the FBR reports on the last day of each month always prove to be on the higher side when reconciled with the figures of the State Bank of Pakistan and Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue.

The FBR blocked the refunds to achieve its monthly target. In November, it paid just Rs5 billion in refunds. Overall, in five months, the FBR paid about 40% fewer refunds than the previous year.

One of the evidences of blocking the refunds is the 33% growth in sales tax collection in November. Last month, the FBR collected Rs85 billion in sales tax, which was Rs21 billion more than the collection made last November.

In November, the income tax collection stood at Rs57 billion, registering a 19% growth, while federal excise duty collection was Rs13 billion with 44% growth. Customs duties again remained a problematic area with only 6% growth as collection stood at just Rs19 billion.

The PML-N government has so far granted 26 big concessions to the industrialists and traders that have dented the FBR’s revenue collection. On top of these concessions, the prime minister has announced a blanket amnesty programme for industrialists, giving them a chance to launder money. All this will hurt revenue collection.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2013.

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