Every restaurant, wedding hall, beauty parlour, and boutique in Pakistan is taking off General Sales Tax (GST) on customers each day, which means crores of income. A large percentage of this GST, however, is not paid to the government treasury. In reality, it all ends up in the hands of business owners.
GST on goods is collected by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). In contrast, GST on services is collected by the provincial authorities, including the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB), Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority, and Balochistan Revenue Authority. According to reports, performance issues, staff shortages, and limited evening monitoring allow widespread tax evasion.
Most restaurant owners have parallel Point of Sale (POS) systems that are not connected to tax authorities. Those systems create false invoices with illegal software and in many cases, it does not contain QR codes or QR is invalid when it is scanned through official application or platforms.
Some businesses also provide temporary bills, but add tax to them and never make final receipts, and instead misdirect the paid tax into personal entities. Other businesses are not under the tax net, either not paying any tax, or paying tax illegally.
A senior SRB official confirmed awareness of ongoing tax evasion, particularly among businesses other than major brands. The official cited a lack of staff to monitor cash counters in every restaurant, especially during peak evening hours.
Customers are urged to verify bills by scanning QR codes using the SRB app or website. In case the tax is not submitted, users can report the issue to the authorities.
 on customers each day, which means crores of income. A large percentage of this GST, however, is not paid to the government treasury. In reality, it all ends up in the hands of business owners.){kind=link}