ISLAMABAD: All the four provinces, as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, have said they were on board for the implementation of the reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) on goods and services during the current financial year.
This was stated by the representatives of the four provinces at a media briefing the Pakistan Development Forum on Sunday. The representatives said that their RGST on services bills would be presented in their respected provincial assemblies as soon as parliament approved it.
Punjab Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira said Punjab was fully on board, even though the ruling coalition party, the PML-N, was trying to do populous politics. He said the province needed additional resources and RGST was the only way forward, adding that the provincial RGST law on services was ready and would be presented in the provincial assembly after approval of the federal legislation.
Kaira said the province would hand over the collection of RGST on service for a two-year period to the federal government. Adviser to Chief Minister Sindh Dr Kaiser Bengali said Sindh was in favor of early enforcement of the RGST on services and the delay was being caused by the reservations of other provinces. He said with small changes, the RGST bill would be moved in the provincial assembly.
He said Sindh had estimated collection of Rs 25 billion from services, but due to the delay, the collection would be around Rs 12 billion during the current fiscal year. Bengali said Sindh would hand over collection right on services involving input tax adjustment and some port related services to the federal government, but added that it would be limited to a six month interim period.
After that period, the province would hand over the collection to the newly set up Sindh Board of Revenue. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said his government was of the view that existing taxpayers should not be burdened, but since additional resources were needed, they would move ahead with the legislation.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani said Balochistan was ready for the RGST on services, as it was a provincial subject and the government would move ahead in consultation with the Centre and other provinces. Prime Minister of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Attique Khan said they were in favour of the tax reforms, as it would help in the mobilisation of additional resources.
