Pakistan In Focus - ECONOMIC TIMES OF PAKISTAN - Tax collection shortfall widens to PKR 440 bn.

The shortfall in tax collection has widened to Rs440 billion in the first eleven months of this fiscal year with only 1percent growth rate, which may push the total collection at the end of the year even below the level left behind by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

The steep shortfall in tax collection has also made the next fiscal year 2019-20's proposed target of Rs5.550 trillion unrealistic - even before the start of the fiscal year, which will begin from July.

From July through May of fiscal year 2018-19, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has provisionally collected Rs3.31 trillion in taxes as against the target of Rs3.75 trillion for July-May period, according to the FBR officials. It missed the eleven-month target with a record margin of Rs440 billion.

Overall, the revenue collection during the first eleven months was higher by only Rs36 billion or 1percent, which also places a serious question mark over the credibility of the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The PM Khan used to blame his arch-rival Nawaz Sharif for poor tax collection.

Due to poor revenue performance, the FBR's tax-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall close to 10percent - far lower than the 11.6percent of the GDP's level left behind by the PML-N government.

In its last year in power, the PML-N government had collected Rs3.842 trillion in taxes, which now seems an uphill task for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

The PTI government has introduced two...