July-February tax receipts exceed target by 13.2 billion

The Central Board of Revenue (CBR), by Tuesday, had collected Rs 507.8 billion for the July-February (2006-07) period against the target of Rs 494.6 billion, reflecting an overshooting of the target by Rs 13.2 billion.
According to ''provisional'' figures, released on Wednesday, the net collection was Rs 507.8 billion during this period, against Rs 419.3 billion in the same period of last year, depicting an increase of Rs 88.5 billion, or 21.1 percent.
Official sources told Business Recorder that the revenue collection was likely to surpass Rs 515 billion for this period, against the target of Rs 494.6 billion, which would mean a growth of Rs 20.4 billion.
Tax collection during February amounted to Rs 45.2 billion, which might rise to Rs 53 billion after compilation of final figures in the coming days.
The decrease in imports affected the revenue collection at the import stage. Customs duty, withholding tax and sales tax collected at the import stage remained low as a result of overall decrease in imports.
The collection of Rs 507.8 billion reflects data up to February 27. On the last day of the month, a handsome amount of revenue was expected. Similarly, direct taxes collection was also likely to improve in the coming days, sources said.
Break-up so far shows that the direct taxes collection stood at Rs 196.2 billion, against last year''s Rs 124.9 billion, showing a remarkable increase of 57.1 percent.
Sales tax collection has reached Rs 192.2 billion against Rs 178.5 billion, indicating a growth of 7.7 percent. GST collection at the import stage was Rs 110.021 billion in July-February (2006-07) against Rs 106.099 billion during the corresponding period last year, showing a growth of 3.7 percent. Sales tax collection on domestic consumption was Rs 82 billion against Rs 72 billion, reflecting an increase of 13.5 percent.
Collection of excise duty was Rs 40.9 billion during the first eight months of the year against Rs 34.4 billion, depicting a growth of 18.8 percent. The Board collected Rs 78.6 billion as customs duty against Rs 81.5 billion, showing a decrease of 3.6 percent.