ISLAMABAD – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed to achieve the tax collection targets set for the first four months (July to October) of the current fiscal year 2024-25, as well as for October 2024.
In October, the FBR recorded a revenue shortfall of Rs111 billion, while the shortfall for the first four months surged to Rs191 billion.
Due to this shortfall, the government is left with only two options either putting extra burden of taxes on public or renegotiate the conditions laid forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the $7 billion loan deal.
The shortfall in revenue collection can create hurdles in release of second tranche of loan by the global lender.
In October 2024, the FBR’s total provisional tax collections amounted to Rs879 billion, which is Rs111 billion rupees less than the target of Rs990 billion.
For the first four months of the fiscal year 2024-25, the FBR’s total provisional net tax collections reached Rs3,441 billion, falling short by Rs191 billion compared to the target of Rs3,632 billion for the same period.
In September this year, Pakistan received the first installment of the loan under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
According to a statement issued by the State Bank of Pakistan, following the approval of a $7 billion, 37-month Extended Fund Facility by the IMF Executive Board, the first installment of $1.269 billion has been received today from the IMF.
