ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing an uphill task in achieving its monthly tax collection target of Rs1,367 billion for March 2026.
The tax machinery is heading towards a massive shortfall in achieving its desired target. Some rough estimate suggests that the FBR might be facing a revenue shortfall in the range of Rs150 to Rs200 billion in achieving the fixed target of Rs1,367 billion for the outgoing month (March 2026). The FBR had made a collection of Rs1,116 billion in March of 2025, and it requires a growth of 21 percent to reach the collection of Rs1367 billion in March 2026. It seems simply impossible at the moment, said the sources.
“The ongoing war negatively impacted the imports, surged POL prices, halted economic activities, and FBR paid increased payment of refunds due to which the revenue shortfall might face a massive dip in March 2026,” top official sources confirmed while talking to The News here on Monday.
On imports, the FBR had collected Rs378 billion in shape of different taxes in February 2026, but now the FBR has so far collected Rs345 billion, so the collection witnessed a decline in the outgoing month compared to the last month. The FBR’s overall collection so far stood at Rs860 billion till the end of last week, but now the FBR high-ups are pinning hopes that they are putting all their efforts to maximise collection up to respectable levels. The insurance and logistics costs have gone up, resulting in compressing imports in the outgoing month, said the FBR official.
The property transaction, according to the sources, dropped 50 percent in March 2026 after the eruption of war in the Gulf region. The FBR paid out more than Rs60 billion in tax refunds on the demand of exporters in March 2026, compared to Rs37 billion in the last month.
The FBR’s tax collection stood at Rs8121.3 billion in the first eight months (July-Feb) period of the current fiscal year, out of which the gross collection of Income Tax was Rs4,003 billion, Sales Tax Rs3,085 billion, Federal Excise Duty Rs531.9 billion, and Customs Duty Rs886.5 billion. The FBR paid refunds of Rs385.9 billion, so the net collection in the first eight months stood at Rs8121.3 billion.
During Jul-Jan FY2026, FBR’s tax collection grew by 10.5 percent and reached Rs7,176.9 billion. Within indirect taxes, sales tax, customs duties, and federal excise duty increased by 10.3 percent, 5.4 percent, and 15.2 percent, respectively.
The FBR’s tax collection target was revised downward from Rs14,130 billion to Rs13,979 billion in line with the agreement with the IMF. However, the actual tax collection target approved by Parliament stood at Rs14,130 billion.
In the first eight months of FY26, the FBR had faced a shortfall of Rs428 billion, so this shortfall was going to widen further in the range of almost Rs600 billion in the first nine-month period. Earlier, the FBR high-ups were projecting that the revenue shortfall might hover around Rs50 billion, but the war in the region caused a severe blow to the tax collection efforts, and now they were running from pillar to post to maximise the collection. The FBR high-ups held meetings with Large Taxpayers Offices (LTOs) across the country to maximise the tax collection in the outgoing month.
