12 March 2004	Friday	20 Muharram 1425

PESHAWAR, March 11: The excise and taxation department, NWFP, and the provincial board of revenue jointly raised over Rs860 million through various taxes and fees during the first seven months of the current financial year , recording a shortfall of over Rs80 million against their combined target for the same period, according to official sources.

The Board of Revenue (BoR) raised over Rs350 million at the end of the first seven months of the fiscal year, while excise and taxation department, NWFP netted around Rs510 million during the same period.

The Board, said the sources, surpassed its revenue generation target for the first seven months by around Rs30 million, while the excise and taxation department missed it by over Rs110 million.

The excise and taxation department has been set a total annual revenue generation target of Rs1,082 million, whereas BoR is required to collect Rs555 million by the close of the 2003-04 financial year.

Though the two revenue generating agencies recorded improvement in terms of revenue generation against the previous financial year, the excise and taxation department was finding it difficult to meet its annual revenue target.

"The department will need some extra effort to accomplish the task," said a senior official of the provincial government. Improvement in revenue generated under the heads of land revenue and stamp duty helped the Board of Revenue to raise funds more than the amount it was supposed to raise on proportionate basis during the first seven months of the fiscal year.

The shortfall in revenue recorded by the excise and taxation department has been attributed to the provincial government's wrong handling of the property tax and development cess on tobacco.