ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected net revenue of Rs4,382 billion during the first nine months (July-March) of the current financial year 2021-22, exceeding the target by Rs247 billion.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the FBR released the provisional revenue collection figures for the months July 2021 to March 2022 of the current financial year 2021-22. The FBR said that revenue collection of Rs4,382 billion represents a growth of about 29.1 percent over the collection of Rs3,394 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year.
The net collection for the month of March 2022 realised Rs575 billion, representing an increase of 20.5 percent over Rs477 billion collected in March 2021. On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs3,577 billion during July 2020 to March 2021 to Rs4,611 billion in the current financial year, showing an increase of 28.9 percent.
Likewise, the amount of refunds disbursed during March 2022 was Rs31.9 billion while in March 2021 the refunds disbursed were Rs26.3 billion, registering an increase of 21.3 percent.
Similarly, refunds worth Rs229 billion have been disbursed during July 2021 to March 2022 compared to Rs183 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 25.0 percent.
It is pertinent to mention that the ongoing unprecedented and constant growth trajectory in revenue collection has been achieved despite massive tax relief given by the government on various essential items to common man. For the first time ever in the country’s history, sales tax on all petroleum products has been reduced to zero which cost FBR Rs45 billion in March 2022. Likewise, the revenue impact of sales tax exemptions provided to fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, vehicles, and oil & ghee come to Rs18 billion per month.
Similarly, zero rating on pharmaceutical products has cost FBR Rs10 billion in sales tax during the month of March 2022. Thus, in aggregate these relief measures have impacted revenue collection by approximately Rs73 billion during the month of March 2022. Furthermore, the political uncertainty and import compression also negatively impacted revenue collection during March.
The FBR said that it has introduced a number of innovative interventions both at policy and operational level with a view to maximise revenue potential through digitisation, transparency, and taxpayers’ facilitation. This has not only resulted in ensuring the ease of doing business but also translated into a healthy and steady growth in revenue collection.
