November 19: The government has succeeded in collecting revenue almost equal to its annual target despite coronavirus crisis.

Although the government’s income had been declining gradually since March, revenue collection has gained pace in recent days. Government officials say that they are almost certain to meet their annual target.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the government had set a target of collecting 25 percent of its estimated revenue within the first four months of the current fiscal year. The ministry informed that they have been able to collect 24 percent of the estimated revenue during the review period.

Data maintained by the finance ministry shows that the government was able to collect Rs 240.15 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year. Out of the collected amount, Rs 226.3 billion was collected as taxes while the remaining Rs 14.11 billion was collected as non-tax revenue.

A high-ranking official at the finance ministry informed that the revenue collection of the government has been satisfactory and in accordance to the target while other indicators are also positive.

The official informed that they are collecting detailed information about the revenue indices. He added that the data collected so far show improvement in most of the indices.

The ministry further informed that the number of people registering their permanent account number (PAN) has declined in the first four months of the current fiscal year compared to last year due to the adverse situation created by coronavirus pandemic. Such number has fallen by almost 73 percent, informed government officials.

Similarly, registration of institutions for value added tax has declined by 51.4 percent and that of excise duty has gone down by 56 percent.

According to the ministry, the number of people registering PAN has reached 3.5 million during the review period. Among them, 1.4 million permanent account numbers have been registered for commercial purpose while that of personal permanent account number stands at 2.1 million.

Director General of the Inland Revenue Department Binod Bahadur Kunwar says that they have been moving ahead with their plant to meet the target of revenue collection. He says that they have prepared a special work plan to meet the target amid coronavirus pandemic.