The government had set a target of collecting Rs 211.92 billion in revenue in the 11-month period through mid-June. [break]
But it fell short of Rs 957.90 million in meeting its goal and ended up collecting Rs 210.96 billion between mid-July and mid-June, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. The amount collected this year, however, marks an increment of 14.5 percent as against the same period of last fiscal year during which the government had collected Rs 175.86 billion.
The government failed to meet the target this year because of frequent shutdowns and strikes that took place in the month of May, when the country was rushing to meet the deadline on writing new constitution.
Such strikes affected economic activities, hitting the government´s revenue collection target, a meeting held under Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Banskota to review the performance of various state departments that collect taxes and non-tax revenue was told.
The meeting also concluded that inability to attract investment and shortfall in collection of non-tax revenue from public enterprises also affected revenue collection drive.
The finance ministry statement shows that VAT collection had suffered the most in the 11-month period, as the government could collect only Rs 64.67 billion - 98.68 percent of the target set for the period.
However, the government was able to comfortably meet targets set for other tax headings. For instance, Rs 38.48 billion was collected through customs duties, which is 103.8 percent of the target set for the period, while Rs 41.78 billion was collected through income taxes -- 104.41 percent of the target set for the period.
Among others, Rs 26.65 billion was collected through excise duties, Rs 3.58 billion through registration, Rs 3.49 billion through auto taxes and Rs 32.08 billion as non-tax revenue.
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