KP Revenue Authority collects Rs10.584 bn

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has collected Rs10.584 billion during the last financial year 2018-19. According to the press release of the KPRA, the efforts of the authority brought 43 percent growth in the tax collections from non-telecom regimes.It said the financial year 2018-19, however, posed many challenges as on taking suo moto action, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, suspended the collection and payment of sales tax on cellular telecom services. Resultantly, KPRA could not receive Rs283 billion from telecom companies.Last year telecom contributed 48 percent in the aggregate collections but this year its contribution remained only 23 percent. Similarly, during the year before 2018-19 non-telecom sectors contributed 52 percent but this year their contribution increased from 52 percent to 77 percent.During 2018-19, telecom contributed only Rs2.453 billion as against Rs5.287 billion contributed last year indicating shortfall of 54 percent. Receipts from withholding tax regime remained at Rs1.538 billion as against Rs1.120 billion last year showing an increase of Rs424.27 million registering a historical increase of 38 percent. Services from the oil and gas sector contributed Rs1.438 billion, while all other services yielded Rs5.15 billion.In the budget 2019-20, KPRA has taken drastic measures to revamp its taxable schedule and rationalise tax rates. Instead of taxing individual services, tax coverage has been linked to 46 classes of services.While telecom services are chargeable to tax at the rate of 19.5 percent and the standard rate of tax for all non-telecom services is 15 percent, tax rate on 13 services has been reduced from standard 15 percent to four different reduced tax slabs ranging from 2 percent to 10 percent and some of the sub-classes of eight services have been given tax relief by applying multiple tax rates.In the current financial year, KPRA is opening its new satellite offices in major urban areas of the province expanding its physical outreach and increasing the overall tax base through taxpayers’ education and facilitation. Keeping in view all the aforesaid measures, KPRA is quite optimistic that it will achieve its new financial year’s target of Rs20 billion.

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