Govt aims to extract 46% more revenue

Finance minister plans to establish unified collection authority

LAHORE:

Punjab government will establish a unified authority on the model of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during the next fiscal year, bringing all provincial taxes under a single institutional framework.

Addressing a post-budget news conference, Punjab Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said the province had achieved 99 per cent of its tax collection target during the outgoing fiscal year, while the revenue target for FY 2026–27 had been increased by 46%.

Expressing confidence in the government's revenue reforms, the minister asserted that the enhanced target would be achieved.

The finance minister announced that Punjab's revenue from its own resources was expected to increase by 30 to 40 per cent.

He said the Punjab government had neither imposed any new tax nor increased the rates of the existing ones during the past two years. He said significant improvements in revenue collection had been achieved by eliminating corruption in the administration and expanding the provincial tax base.

He said the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) had exceeded its target during the current fiscal year by 30%, while the excise and taxation department had recorded a 12% increase in collection.

Among the non-tax revenue-generating departments, the mines and minerals department emerged as the leading contributor.

The collection target for the authority for the coming year has been enhanced to Rs528 billion, and excise and taxation department Rs124 billion.

A target of Rs461 billion has been proposed for non-tax departments.

The finance minister said only a modest revision in certain existing tax rates had been proposed for the upcoming fiscal year in light of prevailing economic circumstances.

He explained that one of the key reasons behind this adjustment was Punjab's decision to provide a grant of Rs546 billion to the federation, which had reduced the province's development budget from Rs1,240 billion to Rs752 billion. He said the decision had been taken by the chief minister in the national interest, reaffirming the principle that the strength of the federation depends upon the strength of its constituent units.

The finance minister said that despite the reduction in development resources, the government had made no compromise on the province's development agenda or public services.

The resulting fiscal gap is being addressed through rationalisation of current expenditures and promotion of greater economic activities across the province.

Responding to media queries, the minister said the taxes whose rates had been revised for the coming year had remained unchanged for several decades.

He said the proposed amendments to the Agricultural Tax, which has remained unchanged since 1998, would apply to landholdings exceeding 12.5 acres.

The minister announced that following the digitisation of collection under the excise and taxation department, the Board of Revenue's collection system would also be shifted online.

The property tax regime is being fully digitised to eliminate corruption and improve efficiency, he added.

Simultaneously, with the expansion of the Punjab Revenue Authority's mandate, its human resource capacity is also being strengthened.

The minister said these reforms are aimed at enhancing governance, institutional efficiency and transparency across the provincial revenue system.