CBR collects Rs 398.2b: Taxes surpass targets for 9 mths

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has surpassed the tax projected target of Rs 395.1 billion for the first nine months on the back of heavy imports of capital good by collecting Rs.398.2 billion according to official data.

The collection of Rs.398.2 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal as compared reflected a rise of about four percent over Rs 352.9 billion collected during the same period of the last fiscal showing a growth of 12.7 percent.

The major growth has been observed in the collection of customs duty during the first nine months of current fiscal which stood at Rs 79.3 billion against the collection of Rs. 62.8 billion during the same period of last fiscal indicating a growth of 26.1 percent.

Imports witnessed a steep rise of 34.8 percent during the first half of the current fiscal reaching $8.9 billion.

The single biggest contribution to the import was of 34.6 percent from textile machinery.

Rise in imports of Vehicles, edible oils and POL products also helped boost the customs collections. The collection of general sales tax (GST) stood at Rs.164 billion during first nine months projecting a growth of 5.3 percent against the collection during the same period of last fiscal. The GST collection during July-March at import stage increased by 14.6 percent

During July- March period of current fiscal, the CBR has collected Rs. 119.2 billion in the head of income tax against the collection of Rs. 104.4 billion during the same period of last fiscal projecting a growth of 14.2 percent.

The collection of central excise duty increased by 17.3 percent during the first 9 months of current fiscal and the CBR has collected Rs. 35.7 billions.

The CBR has also surpassed the direct tax collection target of Rs. 55.1 billion for the month of March by collecting 57.2 billion. In the month of March, the CBR has collected Rs. 18.8 billion through sales tax against the target of Rs. 20.7 billion.

Income tax collection remained Rs. 22.9 billion against the target of Rs. 20.6 billion, Customs duty collection stood at 11.3 billion against the target of Rs. 9.6 billion and central excise duty collection remained at Rs. 4.2 billion against the target of Rs. 4.3 billion during the month of March.

State Bank of Pakistan, in its half-year report, though appreciated the CBR tax collection performance during the current fiscal; it raised concerns on the overall performance of the board.

“While, the achievement of the tax targets is appreciable, the CBR tax collections are clearly not keeping pace with the growth of the economy.

The bank further said that for the fiscal year 2004-05 tax growth rate should at least keep up with the nominal growth that is projected to exceed 16 percent.

Had the tax collection matched the nominal growth of the economy, the level of development spending could have been raised higher than the budgetary targets.

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