ISLAMABAD, Feb 6: The revenue collection has declined by 19.6 per cent during the month of January against the target set for the same month this year.

Provisional official figures compiled by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) showed that tax authorities collected Rs34.7 billion during the month of January against the target of Rs43.2 billion.

Officials attributed the shortfall registered in revenue collection under the income tax during the month of January towards the advance taxes collected with the corporate tax returns this year.

However, the officials have yet to determine the causes of shortfall registered in the domestic sales tax collection during the month under review.

Meanwhile, the sales tax collection at import stage registered a growth of 12.8 per cent during the month of January 2005 compared to last year's figures.

Further analysis of the figures showed that tax authorities collected Rs297.2 billion during the July-January period of the current fiscal year as against the target of Rs293.2 billion set for the same period, indicating an increase of 1.36 per cent.

Tax-wise breakup showed that the CBR collected Rs126 billion under the head of sales tax during the seven months this year against the target of Rs132.8 billion, registering a decrease of 5.12 per cent.

The customs duty collection registered a growth of 6.29 per cent during the period under review . The collection stood at Rs59.1 billion as against the target of Rs55.6 billion set for the same period.

The central excise duty collection registered a growth of 6.37 per cent during the July-January period and stood at Rs26.7 billion against the target of Rs25.1 billion set for the same period.

Revenue collection under the head of income tax stood at Rs82.2 billion during the seven months this year as against the target of Rs79.8 billion set for the same period, showing an increase of three per cent.