ISLAMABAD: In order to weed out smuggling in Customs North Region, the anti-smuggling campaign will be launched by adopting latest and effective strategies in new fiscal year 2016-17.
North Region Chief Collector Sarwat Tahira Habib expressed determination while giving an interview to Customs Today. The flow of smuggled items and vehicles into country brought huge losses to national economy, she said, adding that such heinous activities will not be tolerated in any way.
The customs officials will not leave any stone unturned to plug the revenue leakage, she revealed. The chief collector also appreciated the officials of North Region for surpassing revenue target of Rs 35,379.95 million by collecting Rs 38,138.22 million during outgoing fiscal year 2015-16.
She said that the revenue collection has been monitored from the beginning of financial year 2016-17 in order to beat the assigned targets with huge difference. The region was focusing on automation for bringing facilities for business community.
She shared collections of last year of which the region surpassed customs duty target by 16 percent, as it collected Rs 13,379.83 million against assigned target of Rs 11,554.46 million.
Sarwat Tahira further shared revenue collections of collectorates fall into Customs North Region, including Model Customs Collectorates of Islamabad, Peshawar, Sambrial and Gilgit-Baltistan.
In outgoing fiscal year 2015-16, the Islamabad Customs exceeded its revenue target of Rs 16,167.73 million by 8 percent, as it generated Rs 17,422.43 million. It collected Rs 6,551.95 million under the head of customs duty against the target of Rs 5,845.32 million, surpassing its target by 12 percent. The collectorate also achieved its sales tax target with an excess of 14 percent, as it collected Rs 7,732.34 million against the assigned target of Rs 6,788.09 million.
According to the documents provided by the chief collector, the Peshawar Customs marked outstanding performance during the said period, as it also surpassed the revenue target by collecting Rs 17,796.53 against assigned target of Rs 18,841.16 million.
The Peshawar Customs collected Rs 7,203.13 million as customs duty against the target of Rs 6,320.31 million and surpassed the target by 14 percent. However, the collectorate registered negative growth, as it could not achieve the sales tax target of Rs 8,988.93 million. It could collect only Rs 7,716.09 million during the year.
Under the head of withholding tax, it showed excellent performance by collecting Rs 4,636.49 million against the target of Rs 3,287.37 million and surpassing the target by 41 percent.
The GB Customs also surpassed its annual revenue target by 36 percent, as it collected Rs 1785.24 million against assigned target of Rs 1315.58 million, the documents revealed. It collected Rs 787.88 million as customs duty against assigned target of Rs 632.81 million and surpassed the target by 25 percent. It surpassed sales tax target by 56 percent, as it collected Rs 751.78 million against the target of Rs 481.73 million.
Similarly, the Sambrial Customs collected Rs 1244.29 million against assigned target of Rs 1163.394 million during the outgoing fiscal year. It also surpassed customs duty target by collecting Rs 308 million against Rs 210 million.
