SRB stands firm against tax evasion and taxpayers’ misconduct

The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) is committed to ensuring compliance with the Sindh sales tax law while maintaining a professional and respectful relationship with all taxpayers. However, a recent event involving a restaurant located in Latifabad, Hyderabad, has brought to light serious issues of tax evasion and unacceptable conduct by the restaurant towards a lady officer of the SRB, said a statement issued on Friday.

The statement said: “The said restaurant has a history of non-compliance, including the non-issuance of prescribed POS-integrated invoices and failure to pay the due amounts of sales tax, which is also evidenced by several public complaints on various platforms, including the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal. Despite issuing numerous notices, show-cause notices and assessment/adjudication orders (involving Sindh sales tax and penalty amounts of Rs. 6.73 million), the restaurant has been found to be persistently evading its tax obligations.

“In a recent incident, the restaurant’s management not only failed to adhere to the legal requirements but also misbehaved with a lady Officer of the SRB, who was diligently performing her official duties. SRB has filed an FIR against the owner of the restaurant in relation to this incident.”

“SRB takes the integrity and professionalism of its officers very seriously and will continue to support and defend its officers against any form of harassment, threat or undue pressure while they carry out their responsibilities.

“SRB urges the public to play their part in promoting tax culture and tax compliance by ensuring that businesses, particularly restaurants, adhere to Sindh sales tax law and rules, including the provisions of issuance of SRB-prescribed QR-coded POS invoices. Such collective effort will help combat tax evasion and will also support the transparent and legitimate collection of public revenue.”