The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to get monthly reports of tax collections across the country and has directed the subordinate departments, including field formations, to send reports of all the tax collections electronically to the headquarters to make a comparison of the tax collections on monthly basis. The field formations have been directed to meet the target of tax collections in the current fiscal year and steps should be taken to achieve tax recoveries from all the sectors of the economy according to their capacity.
According to figures put forward by the field formations, the revenue growth is expected to remain between 14 percent and 15 percent during the current fiscal year. However, at least 24 percent growth in the revenue collection is required to meet the tax recovery target. The authorities are trying to meet the target despite the fact that there is a fear of shortfall of revenue due to devastating floods in various parts of the country. However, the authorities are trying to ensure that the target of the tax collection will be achieved within the first three months of the current fiscal year. In case of any shortfall within the first three months, there are strong indications that the target set by the FBR will be hard to achieve. The government, on the other hand, is also trying to assess the damages caused by the floods.
It will be plausible to find some other ways to neutralise the effects of the recent floods as squeezing the already squeezed taxpayers will not be a good option. There is a need to increase capacity-building of the government institution as revenue targets can be achieved by well-advised measures. The revenue collection target will have to be revised if other economic targets are revised. It will take some time to make exact assessment of the damages caused by floods.
