ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has provisionally collected Rs 575 billion during March 2022 against the assigned target of Rs604 billion, reflecting a shortfall of Rs29 billion.
The FBR has provisionally collected net revenue of Rs4,382 billion during July-March (2021-22) against the assigned target of Rs4,134 billion, showing an increase of Rs248 billion. There is an achievement of 105 percent of the assigned target during the period of July-March (2021-22).
When contacted, sources said that the target of March 2022 has been based on the enhanced revenue collection target of Rs6.1 trillion set for the outgoing fiscal year.
The FBR has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the months July 2021 to March 2022 of the current Financial Year (2021-22).
According to the provisional information, the FBR has collected net revenue of Rs4,382 billion during July 2021 to March 2022 of the current financial year 2021-22, which has exceeded the target of Rs248 billion.
This represents a growth of about 29.1 percent over the collection of Rs3,394 billion during the same period, last year.
The net collection for the month of March 2022 realised Rs575 billion representing an increase of 20.5 percent over Rs477 billion collected in March 2021.
On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs3,577 billion during July 2020 to March 2021 to Rs4,611 billion in the current financial year July 2021 to March 2022, showing an increase of 28.9 percent.
Likewise, the amount of refunds disbursed during March 2022 was Rs31.9 billion, while in March 2021, the refunds disbursed were Rs26.3 billion, registering an increase of 21.3 percent.
Similarly, refunds worth Rs229 billion have been disbursed during July 2021 to March 2022 compared to Rs183 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 25.0 percent.
The ongoing unprecedented and constant growth trajectory in revenue collection has been achieved despite, massive tax relief given by the government on various essential items to the common man.
For the first time in the country’s history, sales tax on all POL products has been reduced to zero which cost FBR Rs45 billion in March 2022. Likewise, the revenue impact of sales tax exemptions provided to fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, vehicles, and oil and ghee come to Rs18 billion per month.
Similarly, zero rating on pharmaceutical products has cost FBR Rs10 billion in sales tax during March 2022. Thus, in aggregate these relief measures have impacted revenue collection by approximately Rs73 billion during March 2022. Furthermore, the political uncertainty and import compression also negatively impacted revenue collection during March.
The FBR has introduced a number of innovative interventions both at policy and operational level with a view to maximize revenue potential through digitization, transparency, and taxpayers’ facilitation. This has not only resulted in ensuring the ease of doing business but also translated in a healthy and steady growth in revenue collection. Likewise, the incumbent top leadership of FBR has launched a new culture of clean taxation with a clear focus on collecting only the fair tax and not holding up refunds which are due to be paid.
This has not only fast tracked the process of bridging the trust deficit between FBR and Taxpayers but also ensured the much-needed cash liquidity for business community. That’s precisely why FBR continues to surpass its assigned revenue targets despite challenges and price stabilization measures adopted by the government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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