LAHORE: Provincial Minister Excise and Taxation Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman and Provincial Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said on Tuesday that payment of taxes was the prime responsibility of every individual in the country and the awareness campaign to motivate masses to pay taxes, initiated by the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) in the form of the Tax Day was commendable.
They expressed these views at an event organised by the PRA regarding the Tax Day observance.
They were of the view that both the tax collectors and taxpayers were partners in the country’s development and this partnership should flourish for mutual benefits. They also reiterated that taxpayers’ money was being spent properly on infrastructure and development projects in Punjab under the leadership and vision of Punjab Chief Minster Shahbaz Sharif. They appraised the participants that PRA had been effectively collecting taxes for the government.
She said that taxation was the gateway to development and the government had precisely marked April 10 as Tax Day not just to highlight the significance of taxation but to spread the importance and benefits of paying taxes. She also thanked all donor partners for assisting PRA in becoming a progressive department.
On the occasion, PRA Chairman Dr Raheel Ahmed said that Tax Day aimed to highlight the importance of tax collection for the performance of state affairs and to help taxpayers understand the purpose of tax collection. He said that PRA was trying to inculcate a new culture of tax compliance in the country by introducing new and novel ways of tax surveys to broaden its tax base and had been conducting tax clinics to help resolve issues faced by taxpayers.
Dr Raheel stated that in 2012, the total number of registered taxpayers were 2500 whereas now PRA had over 49,000 registered taxpayers. He claimed that PRA happened to be the most progressive tax collecting agency in the country.
