LAHORE
The Punjab government will observe April 10 as Tax Day in the province in order to promote the tax culture among public.
This was announced by Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) Chairman Dr. Raheel Siddiqui at the launch of the Restaurants Invoice Monitoring System (RIMS) on Tuesday.
The Punjab Revenue Authority launched the RIMS which will be enforced in all the cities of the province under a phased programme.
Dr. Raheel Siddiqui said on Tax Day seminars will be arranged besides a campaign to convince the masses that paying taxes is a duty and the government from this money provides facilities to the public.
First draw of ‘Amaanat’ scheme launched simultaneously with the RIMS will also be held on the same day awarding 300 different prizes including four automobiles to the citizens.
‘Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has approved the launch of the RIMS and prize scheme and also asked the Authority to increase the prizes for making more attraction for the citizens,’ Chairman PRA said adding the RIMS is being launched from Lahore but after its success it will be expanded to the whole of the Punjab province.
The chief minister Punjab who addressed the launching event through video link said the RIMS is the most modern online monitoring system for ensuring that the tax paid by restaurants reaches the government.
The first balloting of Amaanat Scheme under this modern system will be held in April. This computerised balloting process will be transparent, he said adding the RIMS is a revolutionary step for encouraging the taxpayers besides promoting tax culture in the province.
The chief minister said payment of tax is a national responsibility and linked with the development and progress of the country. He said new system will help in promotion of awareness in the people regarding the payment of tax besides bringing about transparency in the tax system.
Punjab Finance Minister Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pahsa, speaking on the occasion, said population of Punjab province is over 100 million and we need to generate more resources to provide quality education, health, transport and other such civic facilities to our people besides creating more economic opportunities for half of this population which is younger.
She stressed the need for a growth strategy and a way forward by joining hands with the private sector, development partners and investors to achieve this goal. She said for this we have to remove the bottlenecks such as shortage of energy and shortage of infrastructure to attract more investment.
She said province still depends on the federation for 78 percent of its total revenues and generate only 22 percent of its use which needs to increase by adopting various tax measures and promoting the tax culture in the province.
She pointed out that the strategy of the present government is to generate more resources by remaining more transparent and clear. She said the government is trying to provide a clear taxation structure which will be more progressive and instead of taxing the already burdened population will evenly spread to all the segments of the society.
She said the RIMS and other initiatives such as e-stamping, transparent property tax collection system and others were part of the efforts of providing an evenly taxation system. She also stressed the need for making tax payment system easier besides motivating the taxpayers to contribute to revenue generation. She praised the performance of the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA). She also appreciated the efforts of the Authority to join hands with the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) and the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) for not only collecting more taxes but also providing the confidence to the people of having food at quality hotels.