ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) recorded average growth of 14.6 percent for five years; however, the tax-GDP ratio of Pakistan is very low as compared to the world standards, it is learnt here.
Official sources told Customs Today that the revenue growth was recorded as 15.8% during fiscal year 2013-14 while 14.9 % of revenue growth was recorded during fiscal year 2014-15. The revenue growth was reached 20.2% for the fiscal years 2015-16; however, the revenue growth was dropped horribly as low as 8.2% during fiscal years 2016-17, sources added. The revenue growth was recorded as 14.1% for FY 2017-18.
Sources said that some progress has been made during the last five years for the improvement of tax-GDP ratio but still more efforts are required to enhance country’s tax-GDP ratio to a reasonable level sources confirmed.
During Fiscal Year 2013-14, FBR’s tax-GDP ratio was 9.0% which has reached 11.2% in Fiscal Year 2017-18. Tax-GDP ratio was 9.4% during Fiscal Year 2014-15; 10.7% during Fiscal Year 2015-16 and recorded as 10.5 % during Fiscal Year 2016-17, sources added.
It is important to mention here that FBR is committed to provide greater fiscal space to the government by improving the tax-to-GDP ratio and broadening the tax base.