ISLAMABAD: The tax collection by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in October missed its target by over Rs21 billion, a source told Dawn on Tuesday.

The FBR expects to receive a few billion rupees in days ahead. The shortfall was recorded despite the fact that the FBR delayed the payment of Rs12.5bn sales tax refunds in October.

The board also directed the central bank on Tuesday to release sales tax refunds in the next 24 hours. The source said the revenue collection already started showing a downward trend owing to several administrative factors, including irregularities.

FBR spokesperson Dr Muhammad Iqbal did not respond to requests for comment.

The source said that a growth of approximately 12pc was recorded in the revenue collection over October 2016.

In July-October, the provisional revenue collection reached Rs1,032bn against Rs871bn collected over the corresponding period of last year, reflecting a growth of 18pc.

A senior FBR official said the overall growth would be 20pc in the first four months in case the board did not pay sales tax refunds in bulk.

He claimed that the revenue collection will improve by the end of the second quarter on Dec 31.

The target for the current fiscal year is Rs4,013bn, which requires a revenue growth of 19.4pc over last year.

In the first quarter, a growth of 20pc was achieved owing to the clearance of a backlog, the source said.

It said the dip in the revenue collection will be more pronounced in next months due to the uncertainty factor prevailing in the tax machinery.

The FBR chairman has delayed many reforms, which were announced in the budget, in a bid to avoid any pressure, the source added.

“There is complete chaos within the tax machinery regarding reforms,” the source said, adding that the FBR chairman has started seeking approval from Finance Minister Ishaq Dar even on minor issues, like the issuance of press statements.

Mr Dar is busy facing cases in accountability court. The top management at the FBR is also refraining from pursuing cases of corruption within the tax machinery.

“Many cases of corruption are still pending with the FBR high-ups,” the source said.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2017