ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday announced that its net collection grew by over 9 per cent to Rs489 billion in August, exceeding the Rs483bn target set for the month.

The revenue collection in the first two months of the current fiscal year stood at Rs948bn against the target of Rs926bn, an increase of 2.37pc.

An official announcement said these figures would further improve after the book adjustments have been taken into account. These collections are the highest-ever in August.

It further said this outstanding revenue performance is a reflection of the board’s resolve to build on its growth trajectory despite import compression and floods.

On the other hand, the gross collection increased from Rs462bn during August last year to Rs526bn, showing an increase of 14pc. Likewise, the refunds disbursed during August were Rs37bn compared to Rs14.3bn paid last year, an increase of 161pc.

This is reflective of FBR’s strong commitment to fast-track refunds and thereby prevent liquidity shortages in the industry. The significant revenue increase in August is largely the outcome of various policy and revenue measures introduced by the government in the Finance Act 2022.

Unlike in the past, there is a visible focus on taxing the affluent. Owing to this paradigm shift, the growth in domestic income tax is almost 38pc which is a remarkable shift towards direct taxation. Likewise, there is a significant upsurge in advance tax collected during August, which is a 72pc increase from the corresponding period of the previous year.

Furthermore, the net collection under income tax jumped 33pc to Rs165bn in August against Rs124bn last year. The sales tax collection is Rs218bn this year against Rs223bn last year, indicating a decline of 2.24pc.

The net collection from customs duty stood at Rs82bn in August against Rs77bn in the same month last year, showing a marginal increase of 6.49pc. The collection from federal excise duty was Rs24bn against Rs23bn last year, an increase of 4.34pc.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2022