LAHORE: The Punjab Excise & Taxation Department has fixed a tax collection target of Rs4.93 billion this year, against which 70% has been collected so far. Still, efforts were being made to achieve the target in the remaining days.
The Secretary Excise and Taxation disclosed this while briefing provincial Minister Bilal Afzal during his visit to Faisalabad Division on Thursday. The provincial Minister expressed concern over the collection of less than the tax targets.
Afzal said the property tax rate is the lowest in South Asia, yet people avoid paying taxes. Director General Excise Punjab Muhammad Ali and Director Excise Noman Shaikh were also present.
The minister said Faisalabad Division would have to work hard to meet the target and realization gap. He said inspectors with good performance should be appointed in areas with low recovery.
He suggested that a special media awareness campaign should be conducted to motivate the taxpayers. He assured he would extend all possible support to solve the staff shortage and other problems.
Secretary Excise Masood Mukhtar said that for the rest of the recovery, the target should be met daily and no political pressure should be considered. He said, “Concrete steps should be taken to dispose of the pending cases at the earliest.”
DG Excise Muhammad Ali said that the defaulting properties should be sealed, and the violators should be arrested. He said the remaining number plates and smart cards should be delivered immediately.
Earlier in the briefing, it was informed that notices were issued to more than 162,000 defaulters in the Faisalabad division. Briefing further, he said, “more than Rs122 million was recovered by sealing 8551 properties. Due to 32 cases, recoveries of Rs510 million are pending.”
On this occasion, “Head of Special Audit Team Adeel Amjad said that the due amount of Rs400 million could not be recovered due to poor performance and negligence of the concerned inspectors and now recovery of Rs50 million was necessary to meet the remaining target in the division daily.
The recommendation of Principal Salim Alvi was suspended while action was ordered against Inspector Mian Irshad and Muhammad Idris. Afzal rewarded Excise Inspector Amara and Khurram for their high performance.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023