PESHAWAR, Jan 20: The cumulative shortfall under the tax and non-tax heads of the provincial own receipts (PORs) has gone beyond Rs300 million mark by the end of the first five months of the current fiscal year as the provincial government is finding it difficult to make its departments and agencies concerned to improve revenue generation, according to official sources.

Government's inability to improve PORs recovery, particularly under the heads of agriculture income tax and Abiana (water rate), said a source, made the major donor agency to express displeasure.

"The World Bank has expressed dissatisfaction over the slow recovery of receipts under the heads of agriculture income and Abiana," said an official of a tax collecting agency of the provincial government.

A recently-held meeting of the administrative heads of the NWFP government departments was apprised of the displeasure expressed by the donor agency over the recovery of receipts resulting in a considerable shortfall under the two said heads.

The NWFP finance secretary, according to an official document, informed the meeting that the WB had expressed dissatisfaction over the shortfall and directed the tax collecting agencies to achieve revenue target under the said two heads.

The World Bank also wanted the revenue collection agencies concerned to ensure recovery of the arrears accumulated against the farmers community under the said two heads over the years.

"This is something unachievable in view of the marginal performance of the provincial board of revenue that was responsible for the recovery of the arrears of Abiana and agriculture income tax," said a tax collector.

For the last several years, the province has not been able to meet revenue generation targets set under the heads of Abiana and agriculture income.

The province is supposed to raise Rs65million from both the components of the land tax and agriculture income tax and around Rs350 million through Abiana during the current fiscal year.

It also failed to achieve revenue targets under both the heads during the last financial year when targets had been fixed at a mark lower than the current year's target. "The recoveries recorded during the first five months of the current fiscal year has left little hope for the province as far as the achievement of the target concerned," said an officer.

By the end of the first five months, cumulative revenue shortfall under PORs stood at around Rs300 million. In line with its commitments with the World Bank, the NWFP government is required to raise Rs3.75 billion during the current financial year.