ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected more than Rs100 billion in first 15 days of new fiscal year (2017-18) with 30 per cent growth over the same period of previous financial year.
FBR Spokesman Dr Muhammad Iqbal told media said that the Board has issued most statutory regulatory orders (SROs) related to budgetary measures, which has caused surge in tax collection.
“We have received more than Rs100 billion in the first two weeks of the current month,” another tax official said, noting that it was the highest monthly revenue collection in the past few years.
Last year, the revenue collection in July was around Rs150 billion. “We expect to cross this figure comfortably,” the official said.
The FBR usually collects advance taxes in its attempt to achieve annual revenue targets, which are then adjusted in the first couple of months of the next fiscal year. “The growth shows that the FBR has not taken advance taxes,” the official claimed.
The government projected a revenue collection target of around Rs4 trillion for 2017-18 on the pretext that the collection in the last fiscal year would be Rs3.42tr. However, the actual collection in 2016-17 stood at Rs3.37 trillion, leaving a shortfall of Rs47 billion.
FBR Member Operation Inland Revenue Khawaja Tanver said that it would be a very ambitious revenue target for the current fiscal year.
