KPRA collects Rs30.3b in first three quarters
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has recorded a 35 per cent growth in the first nine months of the 2023-24 financial year compared to the same period of the previous year.
According to details shared by the KPRA media wing here, the Authority has collected Rs30.3 billion in taxes until the end of March in the current financial year. Last year, KPRA had collected Rs22.5 billion in the same period which shows a 35 per cent growth rate in the current fiscal year.
KPRA is mandated to collect and administer the sales tax on Services and Infrastructure Development Cess (IDC) in the province. This year, KPRA has collected Rs26.7 billion in sales taxes on services and Rs3.7 billion in the IDC in nine months.
In the first three quarters of last year, only Rs19.7 billion had been collected in sales taxes on services while the collection in this year’s corresponding period stands at Rs26.7 billion which is a 34 per cent growth in STS collection.
Similarly, Rs2.7 billion had been collected from the IDC in nine months of the previous year compared to a collection of Rs3.7 billion in the same period this year, which indicates a 36 per cent increase.
Last year, KPRA had collected Rs30.5 billion in the entire 12 months of the year while the collection this year has reached Rs30.3 billion in just the first three quarters. This shows the exemplary performance of the KPRA and its team, said KPRA Director General Fouzia Iqbal in her statement issued to the media.
She commended the performance of the KPRA team and directed them to increase their efforts to not only achieve their target but to substantially surpass it.
It is pertinent to mention here that the K-P government has tasked KPRA with meeting a Rs42 billion target for the current financial year.
“We are thankful to our stakeholders, the taxpayers, traders, and the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for showing their trust and their cooperation during the first nine months of the ongoing financial year and we expect them to continue their trust and cooperation in the remaining three months of the 2023-24 fiscal year,” she said, adding that they were trying to do their best to not only achieve the target of Rs42 billion but to surpass it.
It may be recalled that the provincial government had announced the levy of a fixed amount of sales tax on services offered by restaurants and wedding halls across the province with all restaurants and wedding halls to be registered and brought into the tax net as part of a new policy.
This was stated by the Advisor to the Chief Minister on Finance Muzammil Aslam at a consultative session on subordinate legislation under the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Sales Tax Act 2022 arranged by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) at the Serena Hotel in Peshawar.
He was the chief guest at the session which was funded by the Sub National Governance Program and was attended by lawyers, tax experts, government officials, withholding agents, businessmen and representatives of the chambers of commerce.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2024.