Amid at tax acculturation in the province, increasing tax compliance and building capacity of its public sector withholding agents, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) held a workshop for the officials of government departments of district Shangla.
USAID-funded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Mobilization Activity assisted the KPRA in conducting the workshop at Green Hilton Hotel Shangla on Wednesday. The participants were including officials of District Administration, Tehsil Municipal Administration, Educational Boards, Government hopitals Local Government, and District Accounts located in district Shangla.
Director General KPRA Capt. (Retd.) Shahbaz Tahir Nadeem in his welcome address thanked the participants for attending the workshop on KPRA’s invitation. He shed light on the role of the withholding agents saying that their role in tax collection is very crucial as they are holding government offices with a trust attached to their posts. “We can’t work alone. We need your assistance in the tax administration and collecting revenue for the government to be spent on public uplift schemes,” he said.
The Director General KPRA also spoke about the difference between sales tax on services and sales tax on goods. He stated that withholding is not a tax in itself rather it is a mechanism for tax collection which is practiced in around 168 countries in the world as a good source of revenue collection. He told the participants that the aim of the workshop was to facilitate them, for better understanding and building a good relations. “Our team is available for your assistance and help” he said. He also thanked USAID-KPRM for providing assistance to KPRA in the workshop and other activities.
KPRA Additional Collector Mardan and Malakand Mussarat Zaman also thanked the participants for attending the workshop and assured complete support to the participants. “Our team is available for your support and we have to work together. We need your assistance in ensuring complete tax compliance to make more and more revenue for the government to be spent on developmental schemes,” he said. The additional collector KPRA awarded certificates to the participants of the training.
Deputy Collector Mardan and Malakand Abdul Wahab briefed the participants on the KP Sales Tax on Services Withholding Regulations 2020 in his presentation and explained the whole process of how to calculate, withhold sales tax from the service providers and how to submit their sales tax returns.
USAID-KPRM Public Outreach Specialist Naveed Yousafzai in his statement said that they will continue to support KPRA in tax acculturation and awareness of public and withholding agents. More such awareness and training shops will be held for withholding agents in Galiyat, Dera Ismail Khan and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The participants of the training workshop thanked USAID-KPRM and KPRA for providing them the opportunity to learn and assured that they will try their best to ensure tax compliance and play their part in the progress and development of the country. They said that such activities should be arranged by KPRA more frequently so that they can learn from the experts of KPRA and can master their skills in withholding taxes for KPRA.