March 16, 2006	Thursday	Safar 15, 1427

ISLAMABAD, March 15: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has raised around 90 per cent of Federal Excise Duty (FED) from five commodities during the first half of the current fiscal as against the same period of last year.

Official figures available with Dawn showed that the CBR raised Rs10.129 billion as FED from cigarettes during the period under review as against Rs9.074 billion previously, an increase of 10.4 per cent.

The FED collections from cement stood at Rs5.889 billion as against Rs5.195 billion showing an increase of 13.4 per cent.

The tax authorities raised Rs2.426 billion as FED from beverages and concentrates during the first half of the current fiscal as against Rs2.094 billion over the last year, indicating an increase of 15.8 per cent.

However, the FED collections from POL products declined by 5.5 per cent to Rs2.124 billion as against Rs2.247 billion.

The statistics showed that over all collections under FED from the five items stood at $23.287 billion as against Rs21.275 billion previously, indicating an increase 9.5 per cent.

While, the total collection of FED from all excisable items stood at Rs25.360 billion during the period under review as against Rs23.589 billion over the last year, showing an increase of 7.5 per cent.

This showed that the FED had a narrow base and CBR had yet to make serious efforts for increasing the revenue from other revenue spinners (excluding five items).