ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday announced that its net collection grew 22.6 per cent to Rs537 billion in January on a year-on-year basis, exceeding the Rs533bn target set for the month.However, the collection in the first seven months of 2022-23 fell short by Rs214bn or 5.12pc to Rs3.965 trillion against the target of Rs4.179tr. The tax authorities raised Rs3.965tr in July-January against Rs3.367tr in the corresponding period of last year, a growth of 18pc.

This growth is much below what the government had committed to the International Monetary Fund to achieve the projected target of Rs7.47tr for FY23.

The tax authorities have anticipated that the massive rupee depreciation along with prospective revenue measures and collection of super tax from maximum taxpayers in the next few months would bridge the shortfalls.

An official announcement said that the third quarter of the current fiscal year started with an impressive performance and the FBR would meet the budgetary target despite economic challenges.

Revenues fell short by Rs214bn against projection in 7MFY23

In the 7MFY23, income tax collection rose 48pc to Rs1.747tr against Rs1.183tr collected last year, but missed the Rs1.733tr target. Only Rs11bn income tax refunds were paid in the 7MFY23.

Between July-January, the sales tax collection edged up 1.1pc to Rs1.476tr from Rs1.459tr collected last year. However, the target was missed by Rs126bn reflecting domestic sales tax collection did not perform well despite unprecedented inflation.

In 7MFY23, the Federal Excise Duty collection increased by 11pc to Rs190bn against Rs171bn over the last year. The collection remained short of the target by Rs16bn in 7MFY23.

Similarly, customs duty collection stood at Rs551bn against Rs554bn last year, a decline of Rs3bn. It fell short of the target by Rs87bn during the period under review.

However, month-on-month a 16pc growth was recorded in customs duty collection in January. The contribution of domestic taxes has also increased from 50pc last year to 59pc during the current year.

Additionally, the FBR refunded Rs208bn to exporters during the first seven months as against Rs183bn in the corresponding period last year, an increase of 14pc.

Imports fell sharply from July to January 2022-23 because of the non-opening of letters of credit (LCs). A major drop was witnessed in a few major revenue spinners like automobiles—CBU and CKD and other machinery due to the import compression policy of the government. The collection at the import stage contributes almost 50pc to the total collection.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2023