ISLAMABAD - Sticking to the tradition of missing tax targets, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) could only collect Rs 105 billion in the month of March as against the target revenue collection of Rs 135 billion for the month, sources informed TheNation on Tuesday. According to the sources, the tax collection might go up to Rs 110 billion in the next few days as tax collections of far-flung areas are still in the pipeline. However if FBR collects Rs 110 billion still then it will face a shortfall of around Rs 25 billion in March. Similarly FBR collected Rs 897 billion in the first nine months (July-March) of the current financial year 2009-10 while the target was Rs 940b for the said period thus showing a shortfall of Rs 43b, sources further informed. The FBR has to collect Rs 483 billion in the last quarter (April-June) of 2009-10 in order to complete the annual tax collection target of Rs 1,380b. According to the sources, the FBR is expecting to get Rs 60b as advance taxes in the ongoing month of April, which will help it to bring closure to the annual target. Chairman FBR Sohail Ahmad a few days back while talking to TheNation admitted that it look difficult to achieve the target of Rs 1,380 billion in the context of energy crisis and law and order situation. However it will be great achievement if we manage to achieve our target by over 95 percent, he said. It is pertinent to mention here that officials of the World Bank in their recent tour to Pakistan showed serious concerns over the tax collection of the FBR. They said that the countrys tax to GDP ratio at about 10 percent is among the lowest in the world, leaving the country vulnerable to shocks and dependent on external aid. They asked the Government to improve tax collection.