ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) surpassed its collection target by Rs36 billion to reach Rs475bn in March 2021, the highest monthly collection in the current fiscal year (FY21), provisional data released by the tax authorities on Wednesday showed.

The net collection for the month of March was Rs475bn against a target of Rs439bn, an increase of 8.2 per cent. Compared to the collection of Rs326 in March 2020, revenue collection posted a growth of 46pc.

The higher-than-expected collection in March was also commended by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Taking to Twitter, the premier said: “I commend FBR efforts, achieving historic growth of 41% in March ‘21 with collections recorded at Rs460 bn. During Jul ‘20-Mar ‘21 our collections reached Rs3380bn which is 10% higher than the same period last year. This reflects broad-based econ revival led by govt policies.”

The FBR has collected net revenue of Rs3.39 trillion during Jul-March period, which has exceeded the target of Rs3.29tr by more than Rs100bn. This represents growth of about 10pc over the collection of Rs3.08tr during the same period last year.

The amount of refunds disbursed was Rs177bn compared to Rs102bn paid last year, showing an increase of 74pc.

The government, while preparing the budget for FY21, had assured the International Monetary Fund of raising Rs4.96tr as against Rs3.99tr collected in FY20 — a projected increase of 24.4 per cent.

The income tax collection during the July-March period stood at Rs1.25tr as against the target of Rs1.29bn, showing a shortfall of Rs39bn. The income tax collection, however, showed growth of 6pc when compared with Rs1.18bn collected during the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the sales tax collection jumped 19pc to Rs1.57tr in the nine months of FY21 from Rs1.32tr in the same period last year. However, the target was projected at Rs1.32tr which was surpassed by Rs250bn. The growth came as a result of a rise in fuel prices, increase in imports and revival of economic activities during the period under review.

Federal excise duty (FED) collections were up 4pc to Rs196bn as against Rs188bn last year. The FED target for July-March was set at Rs221bn, which was missed by Rs25bn.

Moreover, Customs collection stood at Rs546bn during the July-March period this year as against Rs492bn over the last year, indicating a growth of 11pc. The target projected under Customs was Rs448bn for the period under review.

Non-revenue measures

As part of broadening of tax base, as of February 28, income tax returns for tax year 2020 have reached 2.8m compared to 2.6m last year, showing an increase of 8pc. The tax deposited with returns was Rs51bn compared to only Rs33bn, up 54pc.

Moreover, a number of 123,680 new Income Tax Returns have been received for Tax Year 2020 resulting in collection of additional tax of Rs511m.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021