ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) collection rose 22 per cent to Rs718 billion during the three months to March from Rs588bn a year ago.

In March alone, the board collected Rs297bn compared to Rs230bn in the same month of last year.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar held a meeting on Tuesday to review the performance of revenue division/FBR and finance division during the first nine months (July-March) of this fiscal year.

The meeting noted that FBR’s revenue collection went up 20pc to Rs2.103 trillion during the period from Rs1.753tr a year earlier.

FBR Chairman Nisar Khan said the growth came despite a massive decrease in fuel prices, persistent recessionary trends in global economy, drop in commodity prices and low inflation.

Higher revenue collection also reflected a qualitative improvement as for the first time in many years targets have not been revised downward throughout this fiscal year, he added.

He said the tax department was set to achieve the target of Rs3.104tr this fiscal year.

Mr Dar emphasised more facilitation from the FBR to taxpayers for filing of returns and simplification of procedures.

The chairman said last year had been quite productive for broadening of tax base and revenue generation as the FBR received over one million tax returns which were about 750,000 three years ago.

“We have taken several administrative and revenue measures, including increased cost of doing business, imposition of withholding tax on bank transactions for non-filers and dialogue with small and medium traders, to improve tax compliance,” he said.

A large number of Pakistanis were paying taxes on various accounts such as use of mobile phone and purchase of household items falling in the GST regime. However, there were a large number of those who were earning a lot but not paying taxes commensurate with their income. “These are the people we are aiming to bring into the net through a tax system that is simple, fair and transparent,” he said.

Regarding Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme, the FBR chairman said it was launched at the behest of traders who wanted to become part of the tax net to avoid paying 0.6pc withholding tax on their bank transactions.

“Under the scheme, we have received around 8,000 tax returns and around Rs15bn in taxes during the last seven months,” he said.

Secretary Finance Division Dr Waqar Masood Khan informed that targets for Net International Reserves, Net Domestic Assets and SWAP were achieved for the third quarter. On other economic targets, the data for the same was being compiled, he added. The finance minister directed that the exercise should be completed within a week.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2016