The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has provisionally collected Rs 576 billion in first two months of 2019-20 against the target of Rs 644 billion, reflecting a shortfall of Rs 68 billion. According to the provisional data compiled by the FBR here on Friday night, the FBR has provisionally collected Rs 292 billion in August 2019 (up to August 30) against the target of Rs 352 billion, reflecting a shortfall of Rs 60 billion.

Sources said that the FBR is trying its level best to cross the figure of Rs 600 billion during July-August 2019 period. Revenue is still in the pipeline and revenue collection would further increase on compilation of final figures. The FBR intended to achieve 19 percent growth in revenue by end of first quarter (July-September) 2019-20. The long Eid-ul-Azha vacations during August 2019 also had negative impact on revenue collection.

However, the FBR witnessed net growth of 17.5 percent in revenue collection during August 2019. Domestic taxes including sales tax, income tax and federal excise duty achieved growth of 30 percent during this period. On the other hand, taxes collection including customs duty at the import stage registered a negative growth of 16 percent during August 2019 having negative impact on overall collection of the FBR during this period, sources added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019