ISLAMABAD, March 31: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) is facing a shortfall of around Rs5 billion, as revenue collection amounted to Rs31 billion during March this year against Rs36.6 billion target set for the same month.

But, provisional figures released by the finance ministry shows, as compared to the last year collection of Rs32.9 billion in March, it declined by 5.77 per cent.

Similarly, the revenue receipts fell by 4.64 per cent during the July-March period of the current fiscal to Rs265.93 billion this year, against Rs278.9 billion target set for the period.

CBR Spokesman and a direct taxes member Vakil Ahmed Khan, talking to Dawn, attributed the decline under the head of sales tax and customs to the Sep 11 incident.

Mr Khan, however, said it was expected to collect Rs3-4 billion in the next two weeks.

He said lower dutiable imports and appreciation of the rupee against dollars was also one of the major factors for low revenue collections.

The spokesman stated that the tax collection during March of current fiscal would exceed the receipts of the last year.

Official figures available with Dawn show that the tax authorities have collected Rs265.93 billion during July-March in the current fiscal against Rs276.75 billion revenue, which it netted during the same period last year, showing a decline of 3.9 per cent.

Further break-up shows that Rs93.68 billion direct taxes were collected during the July-March period of the current financial year, against the target of Rs98.45 billion set for the period, registering a negative trend of 4.84 per cent.

And under the head of indirect taxes, Rs172.24 billion were collected during nine months of the current fiscal, against Rs179.8 billion target set for the same period, showing a decline of 4.22 per cent.

Tax-wise break-up shows that the tax authorities collected Rs114.09 billion under the head of sales tax during July-March of the current financial year, against the target of Rs116.37 billion, showing a decline of 1.95 per cent.

Under the head of customs, Rs27.82 billion were collected during the same period this year, against the target of Rs34.42 billion, with a decline of 19.17 per cent.

The revenue receipts fell short by 21.11 per cent of the target during February of the current fiscal, as it stood at Rs27.61 billion during the same month this year against the target of Rs35 billion.