ISLAMABAD: The revenue collection recorded a growth of over 30 per cent in the first 15 days of 2017-18.

The spurt is despite the entanglement of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in the Panama Papers investigation. In addition, transfers of some of the board’s senior officers also took place recently.

Tax officials have lately been busy with the JIT and Supreme Court proceedings instead of focusing on revenue policies.

A similar trend exists in key ministries as the Panama Papers case has distracted senior government officers from their regular work.

But the revenue collection from field formations has surprised many at the FBR headquarters. “We have issued most statutory regulatory orders related to budgetary measures,” FBR spokesman Dr Muhammad Iqbal told Dawn, adding that no policy measures were left pending because of the JIT probe.

Another tax official had more to add: “We have received more than Rs100 billion in the first two weeks of the current month,” the official said, noting that it was the highest monthly revenue collection in the past few years.

Last year, the revenue collection in July was around Rs150bn. “We expect to cross this figure comfortably,” the official said.

The FBR usually collects advance taxes in its attempt to achieve annual revenue targets, which are then adjusted in the first couple of months of the next fiscal year.

“The growth shows that the FBR has not taken advance taxes,” the official claimed.

The government projected a revenue collection target of around Rs4 trillion for 2017-18 on the pretext that the collection in the last fiscal year would be Rs3.42tr. However, the actual collection in 2016-17 stood at Rs3.37tr, leaving a shortfall of Rs47bn.

FBR Member Operation Inland Revenue Khawaja Tanver told Dawn that it would be a “very ambitious revenue target” for the current fiscal year.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017