Punjab government defers Rs 18 billion tax collection

In order to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, the Punjab government has deferred Rs18 billion provincial taxes for three months. According to the provincial tax authorities, a notification to defer the taxes has been issued in line with the decision of cabinet committee of ministers.
They said the taxes will be recovered after three months when business activities would resume as per routine in the province. Tax relief has been extended in terms of general sales tax (GST), excise duties and taxes relating to the land revenue.
It includes exemption of GST for medical consultants, hospitals and the construction sector and deferment of the urban immovable property tax and the infrastructure development cess. The sources further added that both the capital value tax (CVT) and stamp duty for property transactions would also be reduced.
According to the sources, relief would also apply to the businesses affected by the lockdown at the moment which included marriage halls, caterers, beauty parlous, tour operators, car dealers, car rental services, cable operators, property dealers, guest houses, motels, non-corporate hotels, and real estate management etc.
They said the GST on all the online platforms would be zero under the relief package. Similarly, businesses and services related to human resource development (HRD) would also be zero-rated, they added.
Recovery of all types of taxes have been suspended for the next three months from all the sectors being affected due to the economic impasse because of coronavirus.
Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht said the Punjab government would also launch Rs100 billion development schemes under the public sector development programme (PSDP) where maximum number of daily wagers would be engaged to revive the business activities.
Meanwhile, the regional tax office (RTO) has also extended the last date for filing of federal excise and returns of sales tax up to the 12th of April. The returns relate to the sales occurred during the month of February were due to be filed in the month of March. It may be noted that the Punjab government has locked down the province up to 4th April to avoid the spread of coronavirus.