PESHAWAR, June 2: The NWFP Board of Revenue (BoR) has collected Rs560 million in nine months of the current financial year, and looks set to exceed the Rs637 million revenue collection target for the 2004-05 financial year. The BoR was set Rs283 million land revenue target, Rs249 million stamp duty, Rs40 million registration fee and Rs65 million under land tax and agriculture income tax for 2004-05 financial year.

Official record of the NWFP Accountant General Office shows that the province raised a total Rs560 million under the four heads in nine months of the current fiscal year.

The BoR collected 88 per cent of the total annual target of Rs637 million leaving Rs77 million to be collected during the last three months. The improvement in revenue collection was attributed to the performance of the transaction based head of stamp duty and land revenue.

Against the annual target of Rs249 million on account of stamp duty the board collected Rs232 million during the July-March period of the current financial year, making 93 per cent of the annual target.

Similarly, the board recovered Rs261 million under the head of land revenue against the annual target of Rs283 million, collecting 92 per cent of the annual target. Officials said that the boom experienced by the property business, in the recent past, helped the provincial government record improvement in its revenue under the head of stamp duty.

The province, according to sources, had raised Rs220 million under the stamp duty during the last financial year, hence, recoveries recorded during the first nine months of the current fiscal recorded significant improvement. Under land revenue the province raised more than Rs261 million during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

In line with its commitment with the World Bank the provincial government is supposed to fix the stamp duty target for the 2005-06 financial year at a level of Rs281 million whereas in the case of land revenue it is committed to fix the target at Rs319 million to achieve the growth rate target as agreed by the two sides.