FBR Sets Tax Collection Target of Rs. 965 Billion for December

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing the impossible task to collect Rs. 965 billion in December for meeting the assigned revenue collection target. The FBR’s month-wise tax projections for the current fiscal year (FY23) reveal that an extraordinary growth of 61 percent (compared to last year’s collection) would be required in revenue collection during December, provided the FBR meets the tax projection of Rs. 537 billion in November. If the FBR misses the tax collection target of November, the required growth in tax collection during December would exceed 61 percent. A breakup of the monthly tax collection target for December shows that the income tax target has been set at Rs. 546 billion showing a growth of 113 percent. The sales tax target has been set at Rs. 273 billion, reflecting a growth of 20 percent. The target of federal excise duty (FED) has been projected at Rs. 41 billion, requiring growth of 64 percent and the tax projection of customs duty has been estimated at Rs. 104 billion, reflecting an estimated growth of 14 percent. The provisional collection during July-October FY23 stood at Rs. 2,149 billion which exceeded the target by Rs. 5.4 billion. The target for November-June FY23 has been set at Rs. 5,321 billion. According to data, the overall tax collection from imports witnessed a decrease of 0.6 percent during July-October FY23. Sales tax collection on imports witnessed a three percent decrease during the period and the FED collection witnessed a 56 percent decrease at the import stage. The revenue collection target for FY23 is Rs. 7,470 billion but due to floods, the targets for the current financial year are being changed and the FBR revenue may be affected after the revision of targets.