ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: The tax authorities have claimed to have collected Rs111.5 billion during the first quarter (July- September) period of the current fiscal year against Rs94.1 billion collected during the same period last year, showing an increase of 18.5 per cent.

Provisional official figures released by Central Board of Revenue (CBR) here on Thursday showed that the revenue collection increased by 1.36 per cent when compared with the target of Rs110 billion set for the same period.

The CBR expected that the revenue collection would further increase when the revenue collection figures for the month of September 2004 would be finalized in the next few days.

Tax wise break up showed that tax authorities collected Rs30.7 billion under the head of direct taxes during the July- September period of the current fiscal year against Rs25.578 billion during the same period last year, showing an increase of 19.9 per cent.

Under the head of sales tax, Rs49.4 billion were collected during the first quarter against Rs41.6 billion collected during the same period last year, showing an increase of 18.8 per cent.

The revenue collection under the head of central excise duty stood at Rs10.8 billion during the period under review as against Rs9 billion collected during the same period last year, showing an increase of 19.6 per cent.