In the recently concluded financial year, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) fell short by Rs75 billion in reaching its revised annual tax collection goal of Rs7,200 billion. This leaves the net revenue shortfall at Rs75 billion for fiscal year 2022-2023.
As per the final tally, FBR gathered Rs7,125 billion, less than the revised tax collection target. The original annual tax collection target, set in the wake of the mini-budget announced in February 2023, was a hefty Rs7,640 billion.
FBR’s Tax Measures and the Resulting Revenue
The government introduced several tax measures, including Rs160 billion in additional taxes, an increase in the GST rate from 17% to 18%, a higher GST rate of 25% on luxury items, and a dramatic rise in the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cigarettes by 154%.
Despite these measures, the FBR couldn’t generate the expected revenues in the final four months, leading to a downward revision of the revenue collection target from Rs7,640 billion to Rs7,200 billion for the end of June 2023.
Interestingly, Ishaq Dar, the Minister for Finance and Revenues, took to Twitter to highlight the highest-ever tax collection for the outgoing fiscal year. He noted, “FBR has collected Rs7,000 billion taxes for the first time in the country’s history till June 26, 2023.” He added that the revenue collection would continue to increase until June 30, 2023.
A formal statement regarding the revenue collection is expected to be issued by the FBR shortly.
 of Pakistan failed to meet its revised tax collection target for the fiscal year 2022-2023 by Rs75 billion, despite several measures to increase revenue.){kind=link}