ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) raised 79 per cent of the total gross receipts of indirect taxes — customs, sales tax and federal excise duty —from only 17 commodities during the fiscal year 2006, indicating narrowness of the tax base.

Official figures compiled by CBR showed that in fact, more than half of this collection emanates from six items that include petroleum products, automobile sector (vehicles and parts), electrical and mechanical machinery, cigarettes, telecom sector and iron and steel.

It also highlights the pitfall of relying on any of these few items could have far reaching revenue implications. It should be obvious that any contingency faced by these 17 industries can cast a debilitating effect on tax receipts. It also showed that the remaining 23 per cent share come from all other products.

Product wise analysis showed that tax authorities had raised Rs105.1 billion as indirect taxes from petroleum sector during the FY06 as against Rs67.1 billion the previous year, showing an increase of 56.8 per cent.

This showed that the rising prices of petroleum which hiked to above $78 per barrel in international market had helped the CBR to generate maximum revenue to surpass the collection target.

The indirect taxes collected from auto sector — vehicles and parts — rose by 51.8 per cent to Rs63.1 billion as against Rs41.5 billion the previous year.

The machinery sector contributed Rs32.1 billion towards the national kitty during the year under review compared to Rs30.8 billion the previous year, an increase of 4.2 per cent; revenue collected from cigarettes stood at Rs28.9 billion as against Rs27.9 billion over the previous year, an increase of 3.1 per cent; Rs28.3 billion raised from telecom sector as against Rs23.3 billion of the previous year, an increase of 21.4 per cent.

The tax authorities raised Rs27.3 billion revenue from iron and steel as against Rs21.9 billion over the previous year, an increase of 25 per cent; Rs23 billion collected from edible oils as against Rs18.5 billion, an increase of 24.2 per cent.

A sum of Rs19.8 billion realised from natural gas as against Rs17.3 billion, an increase of 14.5 per cent; Rs17.6 billion from cement as against Rs14.8 percent, an increase of 18.6 per cent; Rs14.9 billion from plastic as against Rs13.5 billion the previous year, an increase of 10.4 per cent.

The CBR collected Rs15.3 billion from sugar as against Rs9.4 billion a year ago, showing an increase of 63 per cent; Rs8.9 billion from beverages as against Rs7 billion, an increase of 27.4 billion; Rs5.1 billion from fertiliser as against Rs4.9 billion, an increase of 3.8 per cent.

However, the indirect taxes revenue from chemicals declined by 33 per cent to Rs15.3 billion as against Rs22.9 billion collected the previous year. A fall of 14.4 per cent was recorded at Rs13.4 billion from electrical energy as against Rs15.6 billion collected the previous year.