Taxes recovery in AJK

English , Kashmir - آزاد جموں کشمیر , Snippets , / Monday, July 1st, 2024

Journalist Altaf Hamid Rao

AJK IRD surpasses Rs. 44 billion annual tax revenue target by a huge Rs. 16 billion margin:

MIRPUR ( AJK): July 1st: In Azad Jammu Kashmir the State Inland Revenue Department has surpassed its annual tax revenue collection target of Rs 44 billion by whopping Rs. 16 billion for outgoing
2023-24 fiscal year, official sources said.

“The department registered tax collection of Rs 59.70 billion rupees by the close of the fiscal year 2023-24”, said AJK IRD (South Zone) Commissioner Ishtiaq Ahmed while talking to our Special Jammu and Kashmir state Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao here on Monday.

He continued that it was expected that, when the final accounts were settled in a couple of weeks, the actual tax collection will go beyond Rs 60 biilion.

The department, he said, has effected surplus collection of 36% against the assigned tax target for the fiscal year and 44% against the tax collection of the preceding fiscal year i.e, 2022-23.

Ishtiaq Ahmed, Commissioner Inland Revenue (South Zone), attributed the historical rise in tax collection to the policy of transparency and merit followed by Ch Anwar-ul-Haq, the Prime Minister of AJ&K and Ch Muhammad Raqeeb, Chairman Central Board of Revenue.

Elaborating, he said that the AJK Prime Minister, who was also the Minister Incharge of the department, and Ch Muhammad Raqeeb provided an enabling environment for the staff of the department where they could perform their duties with honesty, dedication and without any intervention from any corner.

Lauding the outstanding performance of some of the senior officials of his department’s South Wing during their professional duties, the IRD South Wing Chief stated that Dr Shazia Habib and Syed Anser Ali also performed outstandingly during their stints as Commissioner Inland Revenue and contributed significantly in the mammoth achievement of the department.

It is worthwhile to mention here that the department had reportedly barely achieved its budgetary target of Rs. 41.60 billion for the FY 2022-23.

It .ay be mentioned that the AJK Inland Revenue Department, which has been allegedly mired in the scandals of corruption, indiscipline and favouritism, in the recent past, was given a robust shake-up by the Prime Minister of AJ&K Ch. Anwarul Haq as he removed the officers from the key positions in the department for their alleged involvement in massive corruption malpractices and irregularities and replaced them with those of proven integrity. ENDS