CDPR in collaboration with the International Growth Centre (IGC) and Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Programme. organised a launch event for the Policy Note: Reforming Sales Tax on Services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on  Monday, 21st December from  4.30pm to 5.30pm PST.

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has initiated a tax reform process focusing on Sales Tax on Services (STS) through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) –  an attached department of the Finance Department.

Though KPRA earned a record revenue of PKR 17 Billion during FY20, continued efforts are needed to further improve the volume and efficiency of collection of STS.

The note presents a framework which can be a starting point for reforming the STS regime in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the objective to make it a key source of revenue for the provincial government.

Mr. Taimur Jhagra (Finance Minister, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) joined us to outline the steps that provincial government intends to take to reform sales tax on services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Other speakers included:
Mr. Faisal Rasheed (Senior Consultant, Public Financial Management at Oxford Policy Management)  presented key findings and recommendations from the tax note;
Mr. Syed Fayyaz Ali Shah (Director General, KPRA) & Mr. Hassan Daud Butt (CEO, Board of Investment and Trade, KP) provided comments on the way forward
Mr. Hasaan Khawar (Team Leader, Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Programme in KP) introduced SEED (Government of KP’s key counterpart for this note) and highlighted the support it can provide to take forward the reform agenda.

The discussion was moderated by Dr. Ijaz Nabi, Chairperson, Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR) and Country Director, International Growth Centre (IGC).