LAHORE, June 17: The Punjab government is eying more than 40 per cent increase in the provincial tax revenue in the next financial year.
Against Rs90,475 million revised estimates for the year 2012-13, Punjab estimates to collect Rs126,702 million provincial tax revenue in the 2013-14 budget. Like the federal government, it has shied away from direct taxation, which is just 25 per cent of the total provincial tax revenue.
The provincial authorities plan to collect the major tax revenue from general sales tax on services -- Rs62,350 million projection against the revised estimates of Rs36,533 million for the outgoing fiscal.
The rest of the tax receipts will come from land revenue (Rs11,583 million), capital value tax on immoveable property (Rs4,938 million), agriculture income tax (Rs2,018 million), provincial excise (Rs1,782 million), stamp duty and motor vehicle tax, and various types of cess, etc.
Punjab also looks forward to generating revenue by taxing luxury houses -- residential units bigger than two kanals and situated in A category areas. It also expects to collect Rs1500 million as capital gains tax from sellers of property. The CGT ratio will be five per cent if it is held for one year before selling it and five-year holding will exempt the property from the tax as the percentage will be cut by one per cent annually.
About the agriculture tax, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah says all those holding more than 50 acres of farmland will have to file their returns whether they fall in the (agriculture) tax net or not.
The Agriculture Income Tax Act had been enacted in 1997 but was formally, though halfheartedly, enforced during the Musharraf government when provinces were asked to implement the same.
But the provinces are recovering just Rs1 billion tax against the potential of Rs70 billion, experts say. “We’ve begun bringing the feudal lords into the tax net by effectively implementing the agriculture tax law from next fiscal (starting from July 1),” the minister says.
The budget document projects a more than 28 per cent cut in non-tax provincial revenue -- Rs43,413 million for the new fiscal against Rs60,533 million revised estimates for the outgoing year.
The non-tax revenue will be generated from economic services receipts in food, agriculture, fisheries, forest, irrigation, etc., (Rs29,554 million), civil administration and other functions (Rs8,091 million), and income from property and enterprise (Rs5,483 million).