Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during a meeting on Saturday reviewed the revenue recoveries made by the Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control Department and found out a shortfall of Rs19,977 million during the last nine months of the current financial year 2023-24.
During the meeting, the finance department shared the collection data of the Excise and Taxation Department for the last three years, from 2020-23. It was revealed that department was expected to collect Rs335,200 million but managed to collect Rs287,604 million only, resulting in a shortfall of Rs47,596 million.
Expressing disappointment, the chief minister directed the department officials to focus on improving their recoveries. He also advised them to explore new taxation regimes, review existing tax rates, and concentrate on professional tax and excise duty, which hold significant potential.
The meeting, held at the CM House, was attended by Minister of Excise Sharjeel Memon, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, Excise Secretary Saleem Rajput, Finance Special Secretary Nisar Memon, and deparment’s DGs Aurangzeb Panhwar and Waheed Shaikh.
Present on the occasion, Minister for Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control Department, Sharjeel Memon, briefed the CM on the recovery of several taxes and fees, including professional tax, excise duty, motor vehicles tax, cotton fee, infrastructure, entertainment duty, and others.
According to the minister, the department has to recover Rs143,273 million in seven different taxes and fees during the current financial year.
Furthermore, the department has achieved 81.41 per cent of the nine-month target of Rs107,455 million, recovering Rs87,478 million.
The figures shared by Sharjeel show that the department has recovered Rs565 million in professional tax against a target of Rs1,460 million, which is 38.72 per cent of the target. The provincial excise collection stands at Rs5,165 million against a target of Rs9,692 million, showing a 53.29 per-cent recovery of the target.
Meanwhile, the motor vehicle tax has a target of Rs11,351 million, of which 68.08 per cent or Rs7,728 million has been recovered.
The chief minister emphasised that professional tax and excise duty have vast potential, and therefore, special attention should be paid to their recoveries by ensuring transparency and efficiency.
Murad instructed the minister to propose revised tax rates and explore new tax avenues for inclusion in the upcoming budget.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2024.
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