The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected net revenues of Rs. 5,349 billion during the first eleven months (July-May) of the current fiscal year (FY22), showing a growth of 28.4 percent over the collection of Rs. 4,164 billion during the corresponding period of last year.
The provisional figures reported will further improve after the closure of payment receipts and reconciliation with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The net collection for the month of May 2022 stood at Rs. 490 billion represents an increase of 26.8 percent over Rs. 387 billion collected in May 2021.
On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs. 4,389 billion during July-May FY21 to Rs. 5,644 billion in the same period of the current fiscal year, showing an increase of 28.6 percent.
Likewise, refunds disbursed during May 2022 stood at Rs. 30.4 billion while in May 2021 the refunds disbursed were Rs. 21.1 billion, registering an increase of 44.3 percent. Similarly, refunds worth Rs. 295.5 billion have been disbursed during July-May FY22 compared to Rs. 224.2 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 31.8 percent.
The ongoing upward growth trajectory in revenue collection has been achieved despite massive tax relief given by the government on various essential items to the 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 Rs. 45 billion in May 2022.
It is also worth sharing that FBR has introduced a number of innovative interventions both at the policy and operational level with a view to maximizing revenue potential through digitization, transparency, and taxpayers’ facilitation. This has not only resulted in ensuring transparency, taxpayers’ facilitation, and the ease of doing business but also translated into healthy and steady growth in revenue collection.
Likewise, the incumbent top leadership of FBR has launched a new culture of clean taxation with a clear focus on collecting only the fair tax and not holding up refunds that are due to be paid. This has not only fast-tracked the process of bridging the trust deficit between FBR and taxpayers but also ensured the much-needed cash liquidity for the business community.
