ISLAMABAD, May 3: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) faces a shortfall of Rs22 billion in income tax collection during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, an official told Dawn on Saturday.

Owing to this shortfall, it is anticipated that the tax officials may not reach the overall downward revised target of Rs990 billion by the end of June 2008.

The official said although the total shortfall in the first half of the year was Rs40 billion, it was reduced by an additional revenue generation of Rs10 billion in January and Rs7 billion in February over the monthly targets.

FBR Chairman M Abdullah Yousuf, the official said, has directed the income tax officials to making extra efforts to reduce this shortfall in May and June. But surprisingly, there has been a steep drop in payments of income tax, along with tax returns during the current fiscal year.

About Rs8.5 billion were collected as against Rs48.1 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts said this trend means that universal self-assessment scheme (USAS) is losing momentum.

Effective audit, they said, was the only method to detect concealment cases, but unfortunately audit activities are not visible for the last three years.

The official said for the first time the income tax officials have raised Rs25.5 billion through demand during the current fiscal year as against Rs5.5 billion.

According to the official, collection from this account may reach Rs40 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, but it would not be an actual collection as most of taxpayers may challenge it in appellate tribunals.

The chairman has also warned the income tax commissioners to avoid taking advance tax from big taxpayers for showing better performance.

The collection of income tax at source — withholding tax —reached Rs141.1 billion during the period under review as against Rs116.7 billion over the same period last year, showing a growth of Rs24.4 billion.

The official said the largest increase is on account of salary certificates while statements submitted by traders and retailers have also maintained a normal growth.