ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: The Central Board of Revenue has set Rs110.5 billion tax revenue target for the second quarter (Oct-Dec) of the current financial year against Rs105 billion projected for the same period of last fiscal, showing an increase of 5.23 per cent.

Of these, the tax authorities collected Rs97.07 billion during the second quarter last year, an official source in the CBR told Dawn on Tuesday.

The break-up of the target for the Oct-Dec period of the current financial year showed that the CBR would have to collect Rs34.8 billion during October 2002 against Rs33.24 billion it netted during the same month last year.

Furthermore, the target of Rs31.8 billion had been set for November this year against Rs24.86 billion collected during the same month last year.

And a target of Rs43.9 billion has been set for December this year against Rs38.96 billion revenue collection during the same month last year, said the official.

The tax authorities so far collected Rs90.2 billion tax revenue during the first quarter of the current financial year against the target of Rs90 billion for the same period, showing an increase of 0.22 per cent.

The official, however, said the collection figures were still claimed to be provisional and further improvement was expected particularly in direct taxes, whose final figures would be available latest by November 14.

The analysis of tax figures in the first quarter showed that sales tax has recorded an increase of 26.3 per cent, customs 23.3 per cent and direct taxes 6.6 per cent.

The official further said that refunds/rebate paid to exporters increased by 5.2 per cent during the first quarter this year as it stood at Rs22.183 billion this year against Rs21.086 billion it paid during the same period last year.