Punjab Sales Tax Act to be amended: minister

LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman Friday said the documentation of the economy is the need of hour while the provincial government will amend the Punjab Sales Tax Act to further improve the efficiency of the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA).

Presiding over the second meeting of the Ministers' Committee for Resource Mobilisation 2024-25 in the Finance Department, the minister directed the tax departments to arrange a formula under which the rate of taxes can be changed after a certain period.

The minister said the Punjab government will also revise the Board of Revenue taxes (property and others) which are frozen for the last 15 to 20 years. He said the government will encourage plastic cards payments (debit and credit cards) and other such means to pay the taxes to the government. He said data sharing with FBR will ensure expansion in the tax net and increase in collections and Joining Taxnet for documentation of services will be beneficial.

In the meeting, the proposals of the Board of Revenue and Punjab Revenue Authority were reviewed to increase the indigenous resources of the province. The Additional Secretary Finance in his briefing on the performance of the tax departments informed the meeting that the Excise and Taxation Department and PRA collections are continuously growing while the Board of Revenue is facing difficulties in achieving its set targets.

The tax rates of the Federal Board of Revenue affect the tax collections at the provincial level is one of the main reasons behind it. The department is unable to increase collections despite reduction in tax rate. Digitisation of the tax system is being ensured to improve the tax system at the provincial level.

The Member Board of Revenue apprised the meeting about the department's proposals for increasing revenue. The PRA emphasised the need for harmonisation of tax rate and elimination of irregularities in the proposals. The Secretary Finance Member Board of Revenue, Punjab Revenue Authority and relevant officers of Finance Department also participated in the meeting.