LAHORE: The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) claims to have made a considerable tax collection of Rs22.21 billion in January 2025 under Sales Tax, against Rs18.39 billion in January 2024, reflecting a 21 percent increase.

The PRA, according to a spokesperson, collected Rs142bn in tax revenue during the current fiscal year, marking a 12pc increase compared to the previous year.

Punjab Sales Tax witnessed a 10pc growth, while Punjab Infrastructure Development Cess grew by 30pc, and Punjab Workers Welfare Fund saw a 46pc increase during the same period, he added.

Notably, no new taxes or tax rate increases were introduced this fiscal year. Instead, PRA continued to achieve its tax targets through stakeholders engagement, holding taxpayers awareness workshops, and expanding the tax base, he said, adding that the authority remains optimistic about surpassing this year’s tax target as well.

He said a major step towards modernisation is introduction of IRIS, an advanced tax return filing system, aimed to enhance transparency and facilitate a paperless office environment. Furthermore, he said, the integration of PRA’s Electronic Invoice Monitoring System with the Federal Board of Revenue’s Point of Sale (POS) system, is expected to streamline access to tax data.

The spokespersons says that the Single Sales Tax Return has also been extended to Oil & Gas, microfinance banks, insurance, and banking sectors, with further expansion planned.

To facilitate taxpayers further, PRA, with the support of the Punjab government, is set to introduce the Single Sales Tax Return facility for other inter-provincial business sectors, he adds.

Additionally, PRA has devised a strategy to tighten monitoring of unregistered taxpayers, in collaboration with the Punjab government.

Additional deputy commissioners (general) at the district level and assistant commissioners at the tehsil level will collect data of unregistered entities, ensuring their identification and inclusion in the tax net, he says.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2025