ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has missed the monthly revenue collection target by Rs4 billion in September mainly due to the devastating floods in different parts of the country.
The Federal Board of Revenue collected Rs 230 billion in September 2014 as against the target of Rs 234 billion. However, sources in FBR believe that shortfall would be bridged when the figures are finalized in next couple of days.
However, they added that tax collection has been hit by the floods, which slowed down the economic activities in the country.
The Federal Board of Revenue has collected Rs 230 billion in the last month of September 2014 as against Rs 202 billion of the corresponding month of the previous year, showing a growth of 14 per cent,” said Shahid Hussain Asad, official spokesperson of the Federal Board of Revenue while talking to The Nation.
 He added that Federal Board of Revenue collected Rs 549 billion in the first quarter (July to September) of the ongoing financial year 2014-2015 as compared to Rs 481 billion of the same period of last fiscal year with growth of 14 per cent.
The government had set unrealistic tax collection target of Rs 2.81 trillion for the current fiscal year, which needs growth of 24 per cent. Therefore, the FBR’s current growth is far below the required growth during ongoing fiscal year.
Sources informed that government might revise the tax collection target downward keeping in view the devastating floods in different parts of the country.
The current unprecedented floods in different parts of the country have left the government with no other option but to revise its revenue target. “Keeping in view the devastating floods in the country, we can say that tax target will be revised.
The floods have certainly put negative impact on the overall economic situation of the country “, said a senior official of the Federal Board of Revenue.