Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, while reiterating the government's commitment to providing relief to the public, has said that they aim to present a balanced budget without imposing new taxes.
"Our focus is on improving the collection of existing levies while protecting small businesses from undue pressure. Major defaulters should be the priority in recovery efforts," he said while chairing the first meeting of the resource mobilisation committee for fiscal year 2025-26 at the Civil Secretariat.
The session focused on reviewing the existing revenue streams and exploring new avenues to enhance provincial resources in preparation for the upcoming budget. "The phased implementation of tax reforms is providing real relief to the people of Punjab," he stressed.
He also underlined the need for curbing the use of narcotics by discouraging manufacturers and distributors and termed the transition in property tax valuation a beneficial reform for both the government and taxpayers. DG Excise and Taxation Umar Sher Chattha told the committee that his department had collected revenue of Rs42.685 billion by the end of March, which constituted 75% of the annual target.
He added that in March alone, a 27% increase in revenue receipts was achieved compared to the same period of last year, which was attributed to improved performance and policy reforms. The transition from the annual rental value to the capital value for property tax assessment has also been instrumental in boosting revenue.
Punjab Revenue Authority chairman informed the meeting that it had registered a 14% revenue growth by collecting over Rs190.2 billion till March 31, 2025.
He highlighted the establishment of 15 new regional offices and the full-scale implementation of the Internal Revenue Information System, modeled after the Federal Board of Revenue. Additionally, the PRA is proposing a "negative list" for sales tax on services, under which only explicitly exempted services will remain outside of the tax net.
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