PRA Working With Corruption Free Mechanism: Minister

Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman has said that Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) is the only provincial tax collecting agency in the country that is working with a corruption free mechanism

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2024) Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman has said that Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) is the only provincial tax collecting agency in the country that is working with a corruption free mechanism.

He expressed these views during the performance review meeting at the Punjab Revenue Authority, here on Wednesday.

He said the PRA has been collecting 66 percent of provincial revenue while board of Revenue 22 percent and Excise and Taxation 12 percent. The PRA still has a lot of potential to double the tax collections, he added.

He said a policy of increasing the tax net will be adopted to increase the collections. Apart from restaurants, beauty parlors and fashion designers, IT services, franchises and sponsorships will also be included in the tax net. Open door policy will be promoted in PRA offices. The success of the institution depends on the trust of the people, he added.

Chairman Punjab Revenue Authority Javed Badr, Commissioner Lahore Misbah Nawaz, Additional Commissioner Sara Hayat, Member Atiya Ali Khan and concerned officers attended the meeting.

The provincial minister told the participants of the meeting that in 2012, he approved establishment of the Punjab Revenue Authority as the finance minister and transferred the collection of sales tax in services from the Excise department to the PRA. Tax is being collected on more than 70 services under PRA. The rate of receipts in PRA has reached from 100 billion to 200 billion rupees.

The PRA is also collecting Punjab Infrastructure Cess and Punjab Worker Welfare Funds in addition to Sales Tax-in-Services, he said and added that in the coming financial year, PRA targets will be further enhanced.

He said that the PRA will be provided with all necessary facilities including human resources for capacity building. The institution will have full support of the Punjab government. PRA offices will be established in the districts where necessary. All issues including exchange of authentic data with FBR will be resolved. Issuance of single return with FBR will ensure resolution of other revenue raising issues. Ease of doing business in the province will be resolved, he said and added that PRA's use of Intelligence and Prosecution Cell and Hotel Eye Information will ensure access to information of defaulters.

Chairman PRA told the provincial minister that PRA is the first provincial authority which is issuing single return along with FBR. By installing a check system on sales tax returns under the agency, collection of sales tax in services is being ensured before the return is issued. PRA is also going to launch its IRIS system. It will be made functional in the financial year. Furthermore the authority has collected 165.00 billion rupees from July 2023 to March 2024 with an increase of 17% compared to the previous financial year, he added.