Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, presiding over a meeting of the Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control Department (ET and NC), reviewed the department’s revenue recoveries and identified a shortfall of Rs19,977 million during the last nine months of the current financial year 2023-24.
According to Chief Minister Sindh, the Excise Department has achieved only 81.41% of its nine-month target, recovering Rs87,478 million out of a set target of Rs107,455 million. This shortfall has prompted the Chief Minister to direct the department to explore new taxation regimes, improve old tax rates, and concentrate on professional tax and provincial excise, which have a large potential for revenue generation.
The finance department shared data from 2020-21 to 2022-23, revealing that the Excise and Taxation Department was supposed to collect Rs335,200 million but only managed to collect Rs287,604 million, resulting in a cumulative shortfall of Rs47,596 million.
The meeting was held at the CM House and was attended by Minister for Excise Sharjeel Memon, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Secretary Finance Fayaz Jatoi, Secretary Excise Saleem Rajput, and other officials. The Chief Minister expressed his disappointment with the shortfall and urged the department to improve its recoveries through greater transparency and efficiency.
The Minister for Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control, Sharjeel Memon, provided a breakdown of the recoveries for various taxes and fees. The Professional Tax recovered Rs565 million against a target of Rs1,460 million, reflecting a 38.72% achievement. The Provincial Excise collection stood at Rs5,165 million against a target of Rs9,692 million, indicating a 53.29% recovery rate. Motor Vehicle Tax, with a target of Rs11,351 million, showed a recovery of 68.08% or Rs7,728 million. The Infrastructure Cess, with a target of Rs84,139 million, had an 87.78% recovery rate, totaling Rs73,861 million.
The Chief Minister also instructed the minister to consider revising tax rates and exploring new tax avenues to be included in the upcoming budget. Additionally, Sharjeel Memon discussed plans to introduce premium number plates for vehicles, including silver, golden, and diamond options. These plates would be auctioned to interested buyers, with baseline prices to be determined after the Chief Minister’s approval. This initiative is expected to generate additional revenue for the department.
On the topic of narcotics control, the Minister informed the Chief Minister that 27 cases had been detected, leading to the seizure of 665 grams of heroin, 31.3 kg of hashish, 25 grams of cocaine, 1000 grams of ice, 4 kg of crash, and a substantial quantity of local and foreign liquor bottles. The Chief Minister commended these efforts and advised the Minister to coordinate with the police department to launch a joint special operation against the drug mafia.