PRA set a revenue collection record of Rs.7.45 billion in June

Lahore : Dr. Ayesha Ghaus-Pasha, Finance Minister, Punjab has congratulated the officers and staff of Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) during a meeting today on 2nd July 2016 at PRA’s head office . PRA has set a new revenue collection record of Rs.7.45 billion in the month of June.

This is the highest collection ever recorded by any tax collection agency at sub-national level in a single month.

This took PRA’s collection tally for the year to Rs.61.45 billion with several hundred million rupees still in bank clearing.

The total collection figure for Financial Year 2015-16 compared favourably against the collection figure of Rs.43.66 billion recorded for the Financial Year 2014-15 and reflected an astonishing growth of 41% which remains unmatched by any other tax collection agency in the country including the Federal Board of Revenue.

The fate was even more remarkable when revenue collection figures are bifurcated between telecom and non-telecom services. A review of the available data reveals that the non-telecom services grew by an astounding 65%.

This was partially offset by the negative growth trend of  -1% seen in the telecom sector where the revenue collection remained depressed due to external factors including blockage of several million SIMS due to implementation of the recommendations of National Action Plan (NAP), Punjab government’s decision to grant across-the-board exemption to internet/data services and continuing trend of telecom operators for seeking input adjustments on account of Federal sales tax paid on capital machinery/equipment imports relating to 3G/4G implementation. PRA’s revenue performance has come on the back of solid achievements in terms of increasing its tax base.

From just 21 services in Financial Year 2012-13, the number of taxable services has grown to nearly 59 in Financial Year 2015-16. Moreover, the number of registered persons which were hovering at about 10,239 persons at the close of Financial Year 2014-15 more than doubled to 22,256 registered persons by 31st May 2016.

The Finance Minister in her address also appreciated key initiatives of PRA including the Tax Day held on 10th April, the Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System (RIMS) and the Amanat Scheme.