Provisional figures released by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) indicate the salaried class registered a 51% rise compared to the last year, leaving the combined tax contributions of retailer and real estate sectors 100% behind.

By contrast, retailers, who are largely unregistered, contributed just Rs38 billion, with wholesalers and distributors kicking in Rs25 billion, of which almost half were unregistered.

Employees from the corporate sector contributed Rs165 billion, 49% more, while employees from the non-corporate sector paid Rs236.5 billion, which is 40% more. Federal and provincial government employees contributed a total of Rs153.7 billion, almost twice the amount for the last year.

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Even though the government recently provided limited relief by reducing taxes of those earning up to Rs3.2 million a year—estimated to save them Rs56 billion—analysts say that relief is insignificant relative to the total tax paid.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif s vow to get retailers into the tax net has more or less faltered. Tajir Dost scheme brought unsatisfactory outcomes, and the 2.5% withholding tax charged on traders largely became a cost to consumers. The government s enforcement weapon was also diluted after excluding more than 90% of economic transactions from scrutiny.

The real estate industry, after higher withholding tax rates and new non-filer categories, brought in Rs237 billion, 19% higher than last year but short of expectations. The government has now exempted the industry from federal excise duty, placing a greater tax burden on sellers.

Even after tremendous contributions from the salaried class, the FBR remained short of its yearly tax collection target by Rs1.2 trillion.