The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued at least 4,000 notices to non-filers of tax in the corporate sector in wake of a considerable revenue shortfall during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year, Business Recorder learnt from RBR sources.
The era of facilitating the tax-evaders is over and tax authorities are set to launch a crackdown on them, but it really depends on the political will of Zardari regime that how much it allows the tax authorities to apprehend tax-dodgers through execution of the law of land.
'A risk-based audit will be launched soon to detect tax evasion,' an official in the FBR said. 'We sent notices to those, who did not submit their corporate returns till December 31, 2008,' an official of FBR told on Saturday.
He said that the FBR received around 12,000 corporate returns in the current fiscal year compared to 16,000 last year and computerised notices were sent to all non-filers. 'The FBR had set a tax collection target of Rs150 billion for December 2008 but it actually collected Rs114 billion, a shortfall of Rs36 billion in just one month,' an official source confirmed.
In six months from July-December, 2008, the FBR collected Rs543 billion and it requires Rs817 billion in the left over six months (January-June) in order to attain its target of Rs1, 360 billion by June 30. However, according to the FBR's provisional revenue collection figures, the Board collected Rs543 billion in July-December of FY 2008-09 against Rs435 billion in the same period of previous year, registering a growth of 24 percent.
The FBR's complications in achieving the target were compounded by a diversity of reasons including its agreement with the IMF for jacking up the revenue target from Rs1, 250 billion to Rs1, 360 billion in addition to a steep decline in prices of crude oil in the international market from $147 to around $34 per barrel. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs203.6 billion in shape of direct taxes in the first six months of the current fiscal year, compared to Rs164.6 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, which is a growth of 23.7 percent. This growth was primarily attained through withholding taxes whereas the performance of income tax was not up to the mark.
Further, sales tax collection rose to Rs214.7 billion in July-December of FY 2008-09, compared to Rs169.3 billion in the same period of previous fiscal year. Revenue collection in shape of Federal Excise Duty fetched Rs52.2 billion in the first six months of the current FY against Rs39.5 billion in the same period last year, recording a striking growth of 32.2 percent. Revenue collection in shape of customs duty went up to Rs72.8 billion in July-December period of FY 2008-09 against Rs61.6 billion in the same period of last financial year. When contacted, the FBR's official spokesman and Member Tax Facilitation, Mahmood Alam said that the revenue collection target of Rs1, 360 billion mainly depends upon overall performance of the national economy.
'It is an achievement on part of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to increase more than Rs100 billion in first six months of the current FY compared to the same period of the last financial year,' he said. He further added that the FBR would take all likely measures including holding of an effectual audit and useful enforcement to increase revenues in months ahead.
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