GST, excise duty on POL products rise 13.9pc in FY06
By Mubarak Zeb Khan
ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: The collection of general sales tax (GST) and federal excise duty (FED) on POL products has increased by 13.9 per cent during the fiscal year 2006 over the previous year.
Official figures available with Dawn showed that the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has raised an amount of Rs33.136 billion as GST and FED on POL products during the fiscal year 2006 as against Rs29.092 billion over the previous year.
Further break-up showed that the collection of GST from POL products and LPG rose by 16.5 per cent to Rs29.390 billion during 2006 as against Rs25.224 billion over the previous year.
Moreover, the FED collections stood at Rs3.746 billion during the period under review as against Rs3.868 billion, showing a marginal decline of 3.2 per cent. The decrease in collection of FED on POL products was linked with rationalisation of duty structure.
The highest increase in the POL prices in international market helped the CBR in realisation of greater revenue, which helped the government in surpassing the revenue collection targets.
The statistics showed that the collection of FED and GST from natural gas also recorded a growth of 18.11 per cent and stood at Rs19.033 billion during the fiscal 2006 as against Rs16.11 billion over the previous year.
The break-up showed that the collection of GST on natural gas rose by 14.6 per cent to Rs13.286 billion during the period under review as against Rs11.589 billion over the previous year. The collection of FED on natural has stood at Rs5.747 billion during 2006 as against Rs5.683 billion over the corresponding year, showing an increase of 1.1 per cent.
The hike in prices coupled with greater GST on these utilities have increased the burden on the common man during the year under review. As the price increases in the market, so the incidence of tax increases automatically thus putting more pressure on the consumers.
According to statistics, the GST collection on sugar has increased by 7.4 per cent to Rs8.703 billion during the fiscal year 2006 as against Rs8.102 billion over the previous year. This is another commodity being used by every consumer, which is subject to this high rate of GST.
The collection of GST from telecommunication increased by 31.7 per cent to Rs26.873 billion during the year under review as against Rs20.397 billion in previous year; GST collection on cement rose by 42.3 per cent and stood at Rs5.369 billion as against Rs3.774 billion over the previous year; an increase of 13.4 per cent in GST collection from automobiles sector to Rs5.303 billion as against Rs4.675 billion earlier.
The GST collection increased by 14.8 per cent on services, excluding telecommunication, to Rs4.129 billion during the fiscal 2006 as against Rs3.596 billion over previous year; 20.9 per cent increase from aerated waters and beverages to Rs2.612 billion as against Rs2.160 billion over the previous year.