Revenue collection up by 52pc

The government mobilized Rs 11.74 billion in revenue over the first month of 2009/10, posting a growth of 52 percent against the revenue collected in the same period last year. Officials attribute higher collection rate, which exceeds the target set for the month by 20 percent, to the latest change in tariff, new initiatives to bring in new taxpayers and strong measures to plug in leakages. As usual, value added tax (VAT) contributed biggest chunk in the collection recorded for the period, even though its growth rate of 28 percent was just above the target. VAT generated Rs 4.34 billion in revenue during the month, shows the statistics of Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Customs contributed Rs 2.36 billion in revenue, which was a growth of 63 percent than what it generated last year. Collections from excise duty, under which high extent of leakage is suspected, interestingly, more than doubled during the period. Excise contributed Rs 1.63 billion in revenue during the month. "New monitoring mechanism, increase in excise rates, and integration of excise administration in the overall revenue administration mainly contributed the growth," a report of the Inland Revenue Department states. Income tax was the fourth largest contributor of revenue during the period. According to the statistics, the government mobilized Rs 1.49 billion in revenue from income tax during the first month of the 2008/09 fiscal year.

The government also collected about Rs 10 lakh in revenue from the education service tax. "The collection for the first month has been really encouraging. Full-fledged implementation of tax ID and new policy measures will definitely enable us to meet the target easily," said a senior IRD official. The government has set a target to mobilize Rs 176.50 billion in revenue in current fiscal year, which is a rise of some 26 percent over what it mobilized in the preceding fiscal year
Source: Republica