LAHORE: (APP) The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has set a new record by collecting Rs. 7.45 billion revenue in June this year.
Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha congratulated the PRA officials during a meeting, here today at PRA's head office.
The finance minister also appreciated key initiatives of the PRA including the Tax Day, observed on April 10, the Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System (RIMS) and the Amanat Scheme.
This took PRA's collection tally for the year to Rs 61.45 billion with several hundred million rupees still in the 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 per cent, which remains unmatched by any other tax collection agency in the country including the Federal Board of Revenue.
A review of the available data reveals that the non-telecom services grew by an astounding 65 per cent.
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 the 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.