SRB collects over Rs105b in revenue

Growth in tax collection despite economic slowdown, Covid-19 pandemic

KARACHI:

The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has collected Rs105.9 billion in revenue during the 2019-20 fiscal year - a growth of 5.6 per cent compared to the collection of Rs100.3 billion in the previous year, despite the general economic slowdown and the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a SRB spokesperson on Wednesday, this collection includes the record receipt of Rs100.3 billion in sales tax, while the collection of the Sindh Workers Fund was up to Rs5.6 billion.

"This milestone represents a consistency of achievements since the organisation's inception in 2011, due to the relentless hard work, dedication and professional values of its employees," said the spokesperson.

With the pandemic, he added, SRB employees worked beyond the normal call of duty, putting in six days a week despite the lockdown.

The revenue board is now aiming for a collection target of Rs135 billion in the new fiscal year, with year-on-year growth of 27.5 per cent.

Sources told The Express Tribune that in the Federal Board of Revenue and the Punjab Revenue Authority, officers and staff are paid one additional salary in the name of 'performance allowances', with the added incentive of performance-based rewards and honoraria. In the SRB, though, they added, employees are only allowed the salary.

This, according to the sources, gave SRB employees the incentive for better performances in tax collection. This is also a part of organisation's policy to maintain required standards of transparency and integrity.

An official disclosed that amounts equivalent to a minimum of 8 basic salaries to a maximum of 18 basic salaries were given as bonuses to the employees.

This year, according to another SRB official, the bonus has been halved.

When contacted, a tax expert advocated that the performance bonus system, as employed by SRB, should be replicated in other tax administrations in Pakistan too.