ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has to collect Rs350 billion in current month of September to achieve the first quarter target.
The FBR has fixed Rs1,200 billion as the revenue collection target for the first quarter (July-September) of the year 2021-22. The government had set challenging tax collection target of Rs5829 billion for the current fiscal year. Pakistan had assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to achieve the target in current fiscal year. 
“The FBR will achieve the tax collection target as our collection is on track based on the performance of first two months,” said an official of the FBR while talking to The Nation. He further said that government is working to broaden the tax base of the country, which would help in enhancing the tax collection. Economic activities are picking up, which is a positive sign, he added. 
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) performed well in the first couple of months (July and August) of the ongoing financial year. Meanwhile, the FBR has also surpassed the first two months tax collection target by Rs160 billion. The FBR collected Rs850 billion in July to August period of the current fiscal year against the target of Rs690 billion, showing a growth of 41 percent. The FBR collection from Income tax was recorded at Rs254 billion in July-August period of the ongoing financial year as against the target of Rs208 billion. Sales tax collection remained at Rs410 billion in first two months of the year 2021-22 as compared to the target of Rs321 billion. The FED collection was recorded at Rs46 billion and Custom Duty at Rs140 billion in July to August period of the current fiscal year. The FBR has paid tax refunds of Rs35 billion in first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to Rs30 billion in the corresponding period of the last year.
The FBR has also surpassed the tax collection target of August by Rs85 billion. The FBR collected Rs434 billion in August as against the target of Rs349 billion. Tax collection has shown massive growth of 45 percent in the previous month (August). The income tax collection was recorded at Rs120 billion as against the target of Rs114 billion. Sales tax collection remained at Rs217 billion as compared to monthly target of Rs155 billion. Collection from Federal Excise Duty (FED) was registered at Rs23 billion. The FBR has surpassed the target of Custom Duty by Rs17 billion as it collected Rs74 billion in the month of August.
Chairman FBR Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, in a press briefing last week, had said that government would achieve the annual tax collection target during ongoing fiscal year based on the performance of first two months. “We will achieve our revenue target as the economy has already picked up momentum,” he said.