KPRA generates Rs 34 billion in tax collection since 2013: DG

Khyber PakhtunKhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has generated Rs 34 billion in tax collections ie 56 percent of provincial tax revenue since its inception in 2013. These views were stated by the Director General KPRA 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 Rs 5 billion in taxes against its target of Rs 13.6 billion," he added
The session was informed that KPRA was successful in generating Rs 6.2 billion against its set target of Rs 6 billion in its first year of inception. In 2014-15 KPRA collected Rs 6.2 billion against Rs 12 billion target, in 2015-16 Rs 7.27 were collected against its target of Rs 8 billion whereas in 2016-17 Rs 10.27 billion were generated against its target of Rs 10 billion.
Currently efforts are underway for transparent recruitment of officers from BPS 1 to 19. According to KPRA Director HR, 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 establishment of Directorates and Collectorates. Tahir Aurakzai added that the Authority has the potential to generate between Rs 30-40 billion rupees 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.