-Says FBR to achieve annual tax collection target of Rs5,829 billion comfortably
-Shares tax collection figures from July and August
-Adds FBR exceeded its own target by 23% in first two months
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is confident that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) can “comfortably” collect its annual tax target of Rs5,829 billion.
In an update on tax collection, PM Khan wrote on Twitter that the federal tax body had collected Rs850 billion during the first two months (July and August) of the current fiscal year, exceeding its own target figure by 23%. He said this reflects growth of 51% in revenue over the same period last year.
In early August, the premier had commended the FBR for achieving a record Rs410 billion in revenue in July 2021. Taking to Twitter, PM Imran Khan had said, “As of now, the collection is Rs410b, which is highest-ever in the month of July – and around 22% above required target for the month.”
He described the record revenue collection as a reflection of the PTI-led government’s policies for sustained economic growth and revival.
Earlier, in July, the FBR went over its tax collection target of Rs4,691 billion for the fiscal year 2020-21 and managed to collect Rs4,725 billion.
But the FBR didn’t manage to meet its initially envisaged tax collection target of Rs4,963 billion for 2020-21, which was revised downward to Rs4,691 billion in line with an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
Tax collections increased by 18.2% during the financial year 2020-21, FBR.Meanwhile, the first meeting of the National Tax Council (NTC) Wednesday discussed ways to reduce cost of doing business in the country businesses in country and to harmonize taxes. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin presided over the NTC meeting, according to press statement issued by the finance ministry.
Speaking on the occasion, the finance minister stressed upon the need for greater cooperation between the federal and the provincial governments in matters relating to harmonization of general sales tax (GST).
He expressed the hope that under the NTC umbrella, both the federal and provincial governments would move towards the harmonizing taxes across the multiple jurisdictions so as to facilitate the businesses and reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan.
