LAHORE: Provincial Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha has said that the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) is the first agency which is collecting tax at provincial level.
She expressed these views while addressing the MoU signing ceremony among Punjab Revenue Authority, Australian Foreign Affairs & Trade Department and Mckinsey & Company. The MoU was signed by the PRA chairman, Mckinsey & Company Managing Director Salman Ahmad and Finance Secretary Hamid Yaqoob Sheikgh. Australian High Commissioner Jurek Juszczyk was also present on the occasion.
The minister said that the PRA is collecting hundred million rupees against expenses of Rs1 million. She expressed the hope that due to technical assistance of Australian experts, the working capacity of the PRA and Finance Department will enhance and the target to be set for 2018 will be achieved easily.
She said that since the establishment of the PRA in 2012, the services and business to be included in tax net has been increasing 25 percent every year. The minister said that in 2012, the government had been collecting tax on 14 services and 474 businesses while presently 25,542 businesses and 58 services are paying their outstanding taxes as a result of which the receipts graph has reached from Rs34 billion to Rs85 billion.
