ISLAMABAD: The revenue collection in November witnessed a shortfall of Rs10 billion, a source told Dawn on Thursday.

The revenue collection started showing a downward trend owing to several administrative factors, including irregularities within the tax machinery.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat has already taken notice of corruption within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). In a letter sent to the top management of the FBR, it was mentioned that some members of the board were involved in irregularities, especially of financial nature, the source added.

It said a senior cabinet member came to the rescue of the officers identified in the letter for their alleged corruption.

Provisional figures available with Dawn showed the FBR collected Rs270bn in November against the target of Rs280bn.

In comparison to last year, the revenue collection witnessed a growth of 24.4pc as revenue amounted to Rs217bn in November 2016.

The FBR expects to receive a few billion rupees in days ahead.

The revenue collection during July and November amounted to Rs1,302bn against Rs1,089bn collected over the corresponding months of last year, reflecting an increase of 19.5pc.

The target for the current fiscal year is Rs4,013bn, which is 19.4pc higher than a year ago.

In the first five months of 2017-18, the FBR achieved revenue growth through the clearance of backlogs from the previous fiscal year, the source said, adding that the current top tax officials managed to show positive performance in these months.

Currently, uncertainty is prevailing in the FBR due to a delay in the implementation of many decisions that were announced in the budget. The FBR is reluctant to implement much-needed reforms, the source said.

Top officials were not pursuing cases of corruption within the FBR.

A senior official told Dawn the government has decided to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns until Dec 15.

The official said it will be formally announced today. This will be the fourth time that the FBR will extend the last date for filing income tax returns. The original filing deadline for individuals and associations of persons was Sept 30.

Until Nov 30, the FBR received a total of 991,187 returns against 746,022 returns received by the same date last year. This shows an annual increase of 33pc in the number of returns filed. Last year, the FBR received 1.21 million returns.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2017