As per the provisional collection figures, the FBR collected net revenue of Rs2,916 billion during the Jul-Feb period, which has exceeded the target of Rs2,898 billion. This represents a growth of close 6% compared to the Rs2,750 billion collected during the same period last year.
The monthly net collection for February was Rs343 billion against the required target of Rs325 billion, representing an increase of 8% over February 2019 and 106% of the target. The collection figures are likely to improve further when book adjustments are finalised.
On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs2,823 billion during this period last year to Rs3,068 billion, showing an increase of nearly 9%. The number of refunds disbursed was Rs152 billion compared to Rs79 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 97%. This reflects FBR’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry.
The increase in revenue is a reflection of growing economic activities in the country despite the second wave of coronavirus. During March-June 2021, it is expected that this revenue performance will improve substantially compared to 2020 when economic activities were disrupted.
Meanwhile, the FBR’s efforts to broaden the tax base are also paying dividends as early signs suggest such efforts are bearing fruit.
As of February 28, 2021, income tax returns for the tax year 2020 reached 2.62 million compared to 2.43 million last year, showing an increase of 8%.
The tax deposited with returns was Rs49.6 billion compared to only Rs31 billion, showing an increase of 60%.
Last year, the country’s tax authority had set the final date for submission of returns as of February 28. However, FBR’s decision to adhere to December 8 as the last date has been vindicated as more returns and higher tax payments were recorded during tax year 2020 as compared to 2019.
Besides this, the FBR has issued notices to nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were supposed to file returns or have filed a nil return or misdeclared their assets or have not been filing a return for sales tax to comply with their legal obligations. The exercise is eliciting an encouraging response. However, those who are not complying will be pursued diligently.
The FBR has also released information about tier-I retailers who have been integrated with the POS system. According to the information, 9,952 sales points have been integrated with the Point of Sales Linked Invoicing System.
The Pakistan Customs has initiated a focused counter-smuggling drive. During February 2021, smuggled goods worth Rs4.08 billion have been seized, while in February 2020 smuggled goods worth Rs3.02 billion were seized, thus showing a monthly increase of 35.18%.
Similarly, during the last eight months (July 2020-Feb 2021) of the current financial year, smuggled goods worth Rs39.52 billion have been seized as compared to Rs25.10 billion from July 2019 to February 2020 of the last financial year, thus showing an increase of 57.45%.
Moreover, the value of seized goods of Rs39.52 billion in the eight months of the current FY has crossed the total value of seized goods of last year. In FY 2019-20, smuggled goods worth Rs36 billion were seized.
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