ISLAMABAD: The government is likely to miss the tax collection target by around Rs1500 billion during ongoing fiscal year mainly due to slowdown in economic activities amid coronavirus spread in the country.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said that tax collection could reduce by Rs1400-Rs1500 billion during ongoing financial year. The federal government had set ambitious tax collection target of Rs5550 billion for the ongoing financial year. However, later, the FBR was continuously missing its monthly tax collection targets. Therefore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on the request of Pakistan, had reduced the tax collection target to Rs5270 billion from the budgetary projection of Rs5550 billion.
The FBR was struggling to achieve the revised tax collection target even before the coronavirus. However, the coronavirus has halted the economic activities in the country, which would further dent the FBR’s efforts to achieve the revised tax collection target. The FBR was already facing massive shortfall in tax collection of Rs470 billion in nine months (July to March) of the current fiscal year. The FBR had collected Rs3050 billion in July to March period of the year 2019-20 as against the revised target of 3520 billion, leaving the shortfall at Rs470 billion.
