Sindh Minister for Excise & Taxation and Narcotics Control & Parliamentary Affairs Mukesh Kumar Chawla on Tuesday said that Sindh Excise and Taxation Department collected more than Rs 19,727 million in terms of taxes during the current financial year from July to September while during the last fiscal year in the same period tax of Rs 18,919 million was collected He said this while presiding over a meeting here at his office. The meeting was attended by Secretary Excise & Taxation and Narcotics Control Abdul Haleem Sheikh, Director General Narcotics Control Haji Saleem Bhutto and other officers. Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that Rs.2192.824 million was collected in the form of motorvehicle tax and Rs15600.657 million in terms of infrastructure cess. He said that Rs182.859 million was collected in terms of professional tax, Rs 619.521 million in terms of property tax and Rs12.890 million in Cotton fee and Rs2.890 million in Entertainment Duty and the remaining amount was collected in terms of other taxes. It is pertinent to mention that in June this year the Sindh government had refused to collect taxes for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) until it refunds Rs8 billion it has deducted from the provincial excise department’s acount. The Sindh Excise and Taxation Department collects around Rs8 billion in taxes for the federal government from the registration of vehicles of 800cc to 1300cc and transfer of vehicle ownership. Sindh Excise Secretary Abdul Haleem Shaikh had said that they used to collect these taxes for the federal government voluntarily and there was no constitutional binding in this regard. “After the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah directions we will not collect this tax,” he told the media. On Feb 6, the Sindh government had expressed its anguish over the deduction of Rs8 billion by the FBR from the accounts of the provincial excise department. Chairing a meeting, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah Shah said that the province would stop collecting taxes for the federal government untilFederal Board of Revenue (FBR) refunds the deducted money to the provincial excise department. “The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should open a separate counter for collection of withholding tax in the provincial excise department,” he said.
