PRA fines restaurants in four Punjab cities for tax fraud

The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has fined restaurants and food chains in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Multan after inspections found customers were charged sales tax that did not appear in official tax records, TechJuice reported on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the authority said the inspections uncovered cases where tax was included in customer bills but the corresponding entries in the businesses' tax records did not match, pointing to deliberate misreporting. Notices were also issued to food outlets that had failed to register with the Electronic Invoice Monitoring System (e-IMS), the spokesperson added.

The crackdown was launched in response to public complaints and vigilance reports about irregular billing practices in the food sector, according to the outlet. The discrepancy means customers paid tax that was not deposited with the provincial exchequer, depriving public services of revenue.

The authority has since directed all restaurants and food chains to issue accurate tax invoices and maintain transparent financial records. The spokesperson clarified that even businesses with monthly sales of up to Rs 500,000 are required to issue invoices through the e-IMS platform, a threshold that had led to confusion among smaller outlets.

Warning that any misappropriation of tax collected from customers would not be tolerated, the spokesperson said enforcement action would continue across the province. No figure was given for the total amount of tax allegedly withheld or the fines imposed.