Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) said that the corporate sector was the largest taxpayer which amounted to nearly 75 percent of the sales and services tax collected by the authority.

KPRA has launched an awareness drive regarding collection of sales and services tax with the assistance of USAID funded KP Revenue Mobilization Programame.

Assistant director KPRA Abdur Razzaq said that corporate businesses were usually registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and carry suffix of Private limited in its name. He said that ratio sales tax on corporate sector stood from 5 to 19 percent. Mr Razzaq said that the high percentage of the tax was resulting into higher collection from this sector.

He said that last year, KPRA collected nearly 70 percent of its total taxes from corporate taxes. “We collected Rs 17.2 billion from corporate sector out of Rs 24.5 billion,” he said.

He said that this sector included telecom, banks and gas and others.

Mr Razzaq said that KPRA standards tax rate was 15 percent; however, tax ratio for some sectors stood at 19 percent as in other provinces. “Telecom companies pay the same ratio of tax in KP,” he said.

He said that payment of taxes was on the rise in KP; however, still many people did not filed their tax returns. “We have launched awareness campaign to raise awareness among regarding the importance of paying taxes for the development on the province,” he said.

Mr Razzaq said that telecom in the corporate sector followed by hotels was highest taxpayers and standard rate on this sector was 15 percent. However, he said that we try to increase this ratio.

In addition to this, he said that they received highest number of complaints from the same sector. “Whenever hotels charge a customer 15 percent tax, unsure of whether or not the tax charged to them is going to government treasury, complaint to the authority,” he said.

He said that customers should ask for the hotel or any other business for computer generated receipt containing the business National Tax Number.

Mr Razzaq said that if the receipts do not include the NTN number, then, the hotel was overcharging the customer for which they can complain to authority.

We investigate and accordingly take action when we found the corporate sector is found involved in tax related fraud.

“Such persons could face both the imprisonment as well fine,” he said.

Besides, he said that they were also working on a developing a mechanism to register companies at their launch and working with SECP in this regard.

He said that KPRA taxed 47 services with varying ratio. “If a business falls in the corporate sector, then, it should tell the authority so,” he said.

He said that currently KP oil and Gas Company Development Company and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited pay sales tax to the authority; however, its impact is not transferred to public in utility bills.

However, he said that OGDCL only paid tax when it hires the services of foreign company; however, not in case of a local one.

He said that companies in the businesses of providing and hiring services fell under the KPRA tax net.