ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue collected Rs 94 billion till October 17, which is about 38 per cent less than the collection until the same day in the previous fiscal year.
However, the tax authority will have to collect another Rs166 billion in the remaining 13 days. The FBR has already missed the target of first quarter by Rs56 billion. The FBR will also have to generate more than Rs260 billion this month to make up for the shortfall and to meet the annual target of Rs3.621 trillion.
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday called the FBR high-ups in his office to find out the reasons behind the shortfall in tax collection and devise a future strategy.
Member (Operations) Dr Muhammad Irshad is being blamed for shortfall and according to sources, he may be replaced with Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Lahore Chief Commissioner Chaudhry Safdar or Intelligence and Investigation (Inland Revenues) Director General Khawaja Tanveer. Last week, the FBR transferred half a dozen chief commissioners of Regional Tax Offices and LTUs.
The FBR provisionally collected Rs 625 billion during first quarter (July-September) 2016-17 against Rs 600 billion during same period last fiscal, reflecting an increase of Rs 25 billion.