Revenue collection suffers setback

The revenue collection in the country has suffered a setback in the first six months of the current fiscal year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the country collected Rs 490.4 billion in revenue against the target of Rs 651.61 billion by the end of Paush month of the fiscal year 2079/080 BS. This is 75.2 percent of the biannual target for revenue collection.

During the review period, customs revenue suffered the worst.

As per the data of the Ministry, customs revenue collection is just 53 percent of the target estimated for the first six months of the current fiscal year. The government had planned to collect Rs 161.82 billion from the customs revenue during the period of the biannual review but the collection is just Rs 85.78 billion.

Similarly, the collection of VAT and excise duty is only 72 percent of the target. The government had planned to collect Rs 180.24 billion from VAT till the review period.

Likewise, the government had planned to collect Rs 97.51 billion from excise duty but only Rs 70.51 billion was collected during this period.

The Ministry said that a total of Rs 116.79 billion in income tax was collected till this period, which is just 74.3 percent of the government plan.

However, the tax under the education service is collected as per the government's estimation during the review period. Of the target of Rs 734.8 million, the government ordered Rs 736.7 billion in education service tax.

The Ministry shared that the revenue collection in the first six months of the current fiscal year has reduced by 15.32 percent against the last six months of the last fiscal year.

The Ministry has stated that revenue collection is marred due to government measures taken to discourage imports. Likewise, the slow business of real estate and the bearish trend in the share market also affected the collection of capital gains tax during the period.