Against the FBR’s claim of collecting Rs280.5 billion in revenues in July, the cash deposited in the treasury stood at around Rs270 billion, according to sources in the Ministry of Finance and the SBP. But the FBR’s own data, maintained by the Directorate of Research and Statistics, showed the provisional revenue collection at Rs256.2 billion.
However, a source informed NayaDaur Media that the actual collection is Rs256 billion, not 280 billion. Amnesty amount of Rs14 billion was counted twice and the remaining are the figures reported by field offices, not deposited, the source added.
According to The Express Tribune, the entire discrepancy was on account of the income tax collection figures reported by the FBR and the cash deposited under this head in the treasury, the sources said. This has raised suspicion that the FBR tried to take advance income tax on July 31 – last day of the month, but companies did not deposit cash in the kitty on the same day, they added.
It also means that the shortfall in tax collection against a modest target of Rs291.5 billion will range from Rs22 billion to Rs35 billion.
Even the Rs270-billion collection would be higher by only Rs19 billion or 7.5 per cent over last July’s collection – a pace that is far lower than the nominal expansion in the size of economy.
However, FBR spokesman Dr Hamid Atiq Sarwar said the collection in July stood at Rs280.4 billion and the spill over of a certain amount between July and August was more of an accounting issue, which would not affect the overall collection in the current fiscal year.