ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board Revenue collected Rs1.7 trillion as income tax at import stage during the fiscal year 2017-18.
The original tax collection target for FY18 by parliament was set at Rs4.013 trillion, which was revised downwards to Rs3.935 trillion a few months ago.
Aside from customs duty, the tax regulator was unable to achieve its targets for three other taxes which cast doubts over the performance of the Inland Revenue Service. FBR’s collection of Rs3.841 trillion may be revised upwards after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) determined and releases the final figures of tax collection till the end of June received from offshore tax amnesty scheme.
The tax regulator has expressed optimism about tax receipts to touch Rs3.9 trillion after the final reconciled figures become available.
Out of the Rs3.841 trillion tax receipts, Rs90 billion have been received from offshore and domestic tax amnesty schemes.
Total collection for FY18 was 14.2 percent higher than the previous FY17 and the country’s tax-to-gross domestic product marginally rose to 11.1 percent, which was lower than the target set.
From the overall receipts, Rs1.7 trillion were collected at the import stage comprising of customs duty, federal excise duty (FED), withholding and sales tax.
Income tax collection at import stage was recorded at Rs220 billion, sales tax Rs855 billion, customs duty Rs610 billion and federal excise duty at Rs15 billion.
Around 70 percent of the tax regulator’s workforce constitutes of offices from IRS, however, they only collect around 55 percent of taxes.
As per sources, sales tax receipts stood at Rs1.488 trillion for FY18, lower than the projected target of Rs1.6 trillion set by the parliament. And the collection at import stage was recorded at 58 percent of total sales tax or Rs855 billion. Custom groups collect it but constitute part of the IRS’s performance.
The sales tax collection five years ago at import stage was 51 percent which per sources indicated leagues at the domestic stage.
The FBR’s income tax collection was recorded at Rs1.53 trillion in FY18, resulting in a Rs67 billion deficit than the target set. Withholding taxes constituted 14 percent or Rs220 billion of the collection at import stage.
