PESHAWAR - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has been established under the Excise and Taxation Department with the mandate to collect sale tax on services. A ceremony to formally inaugurate the authority and launch its web portal was held at Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar on Thursday.
It is worth mentioning here that earlier Federal Board of Revenue used to collect the said tax and after the 18th constitutional amendment, the provincial government has been empowered to the collect the tax in their respective provinces.
Provincial Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Asrarullah Gandapur, on behalf of the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was chief guest on the occasion. Besides Senior Provincial Minister Sirajul Haq, Advisor to Chief Minister on Excise and Taxation, Jamshed-ud-Din Kakakhel, Chief Secretary, Arbab Mohammad Shehzad, provincial minister, special assistant and advisors to chief minister, member provincial assembly, administrative heads of provincial departments and others attended the function.
Addressing the function the chief guest said that KPRA should have been established at least two years earlier but unfortunately the last provincial government did not pay any heed to the matter, adding the present government made the establishment of KPRA possible within a short period of only two months for which it deserves appreciation.
He said that tax was a basic and important thing for the economic stability of any government or state while the trust of the public and the taxpayers was important for the collections of maximum tax.
Addressing the function Advisor to Chief Minister for Excise and Taxation Jamshed-ud-Din Kakakhel said the establishment of KPRA would have a far-reaching effect on the economic stability of the province.
He said that the collection of sale tax on services was a power but at the same time it was a huge responsibility and it demanded professional and moral integrity on the part of the authorities of KPRA to admirably discharge he responsibility.
Addressing the function, Senior Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq stressed the need for gaining the trust of taxpayers to make maximum collection of taxes possible.
Earlier, Secretary Excise and Taxation Raheel Ahmad Siddiqui shed lights on the objective, functions mandate and other aspects of the establishment of KPRA.
He made it clear that KPRA was not supposed to impose any new taxes rather it would collect the sale tax on services which the Federal Board of Revenue used to collect earlier. He told that KPRA had set a target of six billion rupees to be achieved by the collection of the said sale tax during the current fiscal years.