PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) said here on Wednesday that it achieved its revenue target of Rs17 billion for the year 2019-20.

According to a statement, the authority showed 63.4 per cent growth rate in revenue collection compared to the fiscal year 2018-19, despite the catastrophic impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the overall economy and business activities in the province.

It said that all the regions of the authority successfully completed their revenue targets showing tremendous growth compared to the previous year. The major chunk came from Peshawar region, which collected over Rs11.4 billion revenue in both corporate and non-corporate sectors.

Similarly, Mardan region collected Rs284 million and the north region collected Rs177 million while the recently established south region collected Rs208 million revenue in fiscal 2019-20.

The statement said that Rs1.2 billion was generated from the sale tax on services in the oil and gas sector and Rs1.95 billion came from withholding agents.

It said that Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra and KPRA Director General Fayyaz Ali Shah appreciated the efforts of employees of the authority for achieving the revenue targets in extraordinary circumstances.

The statement said that Mr Jhagra congratulated the KPRA director general and his team for their performance and helping the government to gather funds for financing its developmental projects.

Mr Jhagra said that KPRA was an outcome of the present government’s reforms and hoped that the authority would show more improvement with more promising results by the end of next fiscal year.

“Achieving the revenue targets in the current circumstances is really a proud moment for us. We are thankful for the support and encouragement of the government, particularly minister for finance that made it possible,” said Mr Fayyaz Ali Shah in his statement.

“We are committed to not only continue current growth rate but to further increase it in the new fiscal year. We have to build tax culture in the province and our aim id to make it fiscally self-reliant,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2020