PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has generated Rs34 billion in taxes since its inception in 2013.
In the year 2016-17, KPRA contributed 56 per cent in the total provincial tax revenue.
These views were stated by the KPRA Director General Tahir Aurakzai during a multi stakeholder’s awareness and sensitization session on the revenue generation by KPRA, held at Pakistan Academy for Rural Development.
While commenting on the performance of the authority, Tahir Aurakzai added that before the 18th amendment, there was no mechanism with the provincial governments to collect GST taxes. “The present government took initiative and established KPRA under the KP Finance Act 2013. This year till November, KPRA has generated Rs5 billion in taxes against its set goal of Rs13.6 billion,” he added.
The session was informed that KPRA was successful in generating Rs6.2 billion against its set target of Rs6 billion in its first year of inception. In 2014-15 KPRA collected Rs6.2 billion against Rs12 billion target, in 2015-16 Rs7.27 billion were collected against a target of Rs8 billion whereas in 2016-17 Rs10.27 billion were generated against its target of Rs10 billion.
Currently, efforts are underway for transparent recruitment of officers from BPS-1 to 19. According to KPRA HR Director Arshad Afridi, the authority is focusing towards enhancing the credibility and transparency in the recruitment process for gaining public trust.
Moreover, in the current year, donor support projects have also been initiated along with developing the organizational structure including the establishment of directorates and collectorates. Tahir Aurakzai added that the authority has the potential to generate between Rs30-40 billion per year once the authority is fully functional, adding that KPRA is set to become the largest contributor in terms of adding revenue to the provincial kitty.