The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on June 18 sealed a fast food diner, Redapple, located in the F-6 Markaz, Islamabad.
The regional tax office of Islamabad sealed the restaurant over alleged tax fraud.
The notice on the shutter of the restaurant says that the restaurant has been sealed due to the issuance of unverifiable invoices under section 33(24) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
This is a second crackdown by the authorities at another food outlet, as the Double Shot coffee chain was recently sealed in the same charges in Lahore.
The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) sealed the coffee outlet for violating the electronic invoicing rules; there was also a mismatch in declared sales.
The said coffee brand was also suspected of showing revenue less than their actual profit via the Electronic Invoice Monitoring System (EIMS).
On the other hand, in the budget session in the Punjab Assembly conducted on June 16, the new business starters would be entertained with a number of reliefs, as the government will not collect tax for the first six months of the business.
While the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has increased the fines or penalties in case of tax violations, the invoices are left unpaid.
The PRA has set the new fines starting from Rs500,000 to Rs1 million.
Read more: Punjab govt increases token tax on cars
Punjab govt increases token tax on cars
The government of Punjab has increased the token tax on cars, announcing a tax reform package in the budget for the year 2026-27.
As per the authorities, the token tax on commercial and large vehicles, which are more than 1,000cc, has been increased after an interval of 20 years.
The car dealers, on the other hand, have been declared a withholding agent for the collection of tax.
As per the new reforms, the car dealers who are dealing unregistered would be declared not eligible for the government contracts, licences, and No Objection Certificates (NOC).
The government moved to this major step to enhance the taxation system of the province and to uplift its economy.
The Punjab government increased the token tax on cars after two decades.
In its budget session on June 16, the government has also revised the sales tax rates and enforcement measures across various sectors.
According to the media reports, the new sales tax rates have been increased from 5% to 8%.
The hotels across the province will have to pay a sales tax of 8 per cent from onwards.
While the foreign exchange companies and currency exchangers will have to pay a sales tax of 3 per cent.
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