Q1 provisional collection stands at Rs 549 billion

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has provisionally collected Rs 549 billion during first quarter (July-September) 2014-15 against Rs 481 billion in the corresponding period of 2013-14, reflecting an increase of 14 percent. According to the provisional figures compiled here on Tuesday, the FBR has collected Rs 230 billion in September 2014 against Rs 202 billion in September 2013, showing an increase of 14 percent.
The authorised branches of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and National Institute of Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) remained open on September 29-30, 2014 for collection of duties/taxes till 8 pm. All field offices of the FBR also remained open for collection of duties/taxes till 8 pm on September 29 and until 10pm on September 30, 2014. On compilation of final figures, the revenue collection is expected to increase in coming days.
Sources said that the introduction of the concept of higher rates of withholding taxes for non-filers of returns has started showing improvement in withholding tax collection during first quarter of 2014-15. The withholding tax collection at import stage has also shown improvement during the period under review. To penalise un-documented persons, the government has imposed an advance adjustable income tax, in addition to the tax collectable from return filers, be collected from persons who do not file income tax returns on certain transactions. This has resulted in withholding tax collection increase during (July-September) 2014-15.
In order to achieve the challenging tax collection target of Rs 2,381 billion in 2014-15 against the revised estimates of Rs 2,275 billion for 2013-14, the government requires a growth of 24-26 percent for achieving its set tax targets. The revenue collection target of Rs 2,810 billion for 2014-15 is ambitious but achievable, as an effective strategy has been set for this purpose. The target of Rs 2,810 billion for 2014-15 has to be achieved by the tax machinery requiring 24-26 percent growth in revenue collection in current fiscal year when compared with last fiscal year. The target of Rs 2,810 billion for 2014-15 is doable in view of budget calculations and taxation/administrative measures taken for 2014-15, sources said.
In 2013-14, the Board had collected over Rs 2,266 billion during July-June (2013-14) against Rs 1,939 billion during 2012-13, reflecting an increase of Rs 327.4 billion. The revenue collection targets for 2104-15 have already been given to the Chief Commissioners of LTUs and RTOs on a monthly basis and their performance would be monitored on regular basis. The tax authorities are working on a strategy to meet the revenue collection target of Rs 2,810 billion for 2014-15, they added.