Finance Minister directs FBR to increase tax targets for next financial year

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muftah Ismail on Tuesday has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to work on expanding tax targets for the next financial year.

An important meeting was convened in FBR under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Muftah Ismail in which  Chairman FBR Asim Ahmed and senior officers participated.

Finance Minister Muftah Ismail was given a detailed briefing on the performance of FBR. The meeting also reviewed FBR tax targets, collections and future strategy.

Sources said that the Finance Minister has directed all possible efforts to achieve the tax target of Rs 61 crore for the current financial year.

Sources further added that the meeting discussed in detail the tax targets and receipts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and directed the FBR to work on increasing the tax targets for the next financial year.

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Earlier, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail praised the efforts made by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in a tweet by saying that the team deserves appreciation for the tremendous efforts.

The finance minister tweeted that the collection in the current fiscal year (FY), which is from July 2021-April 2022, was Rs 5122 billion registering a 28.7% of growth.

“Refunds of Rs 264 b disbursed during Jul 21-Apr 22 compared to Rs 203 b paid last year, up by 30.1%. The FBR team deserves appreciation,” he added.

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The minister maintained that the big factor in the increased collection was the surge in exports.

“For instance, sales tax at import stage grew by 58% while it declined by 2% for local goods. With the right mix of policies and tools, I am sure this team will perform even better & to the expectations of the nation.”

Whereas, the incumbent government after coming into power removed the Chairman FBR Muhammad Ashfaque and appointed Asim Ahmed with immediate effect a few days ago.