Punjab Revenue Authority acts against restaurants over fake tax receipts

The Punjab Revenue Authority has launched action against restaurants and food businesses that issued fake tax receipts or kept incomplete records, after detecting cases in which sales tax was charged to customers but not properly recorded.

In a statement carried by the Associated Press of Pakistan, the authority said it had intensified action against tax evasion and irregularities involving non-transparent records. Several restaurants and food chains were found collecting tax from customers while failing to record that tax in their official returns, with discrepancies later identified in the corresponding tax records.

ProPakistani, citing a spokesperson for the authority, reported that fines had been imposed on several food outlets for issuing fake receipts and notices were served on businesses that had not adopted the E-IMS electronic receipt system. The operations took place in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Multan in response to public complaints and vigilance reports, the outlet said.

Restaurants and food chains have been directed to issue correct tax receipts and to keep complete records of all transactions. The spokesperson quoted by ProPakistani said food business operators whose monthly sales reach up to Rs500,000 are required to issue receipts through E-IMS. The authority added that any misappropriation of tax collected from consumers would not be tolerated.

Neither the authority nor the outlets disclosed the names of the businesses involved or the total number of fines and notices issued.