Prominent restaurant sealed at Karachi's Do Darya

KARACHI: Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) on Thursday sealed a renowned restaurant, situated at Sea View (Do Darya), over tax evasion and non-compliance in Karachi, ARY News reported.

As per the SRB’s spokesperson, the authorities sealed the restaurant after finding consistent non-compliance with the provisions of the Sindh Sales Tax on Services Act, 2011, raising suspicions of an attempt to evade taxes.

“Restaurant located at Sea View (Do Darya) Karachi was found involved in evading Sindh’s Sales Tax,” revenue board officials said.

Despite issuing multiple notices to the owner of the restaurant, the management failed to file the necessary tax returns which ultimately led to the restaurant being sealed by the authorities.

The closure of the establishment was prompted by its failure to synchronize its Point of Sale (POS) system with SRB’s invoicing system, alongside allegations of non-payment of sales tax.

Authorities underscore the imperative of preventing any loss of public revenue stemming from tax evasion by service providers across Sindh.

A day earlier, Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar introduced a bill further to amend certain tax laws (The Tax Law Amendment Bill 2024), in the National Assembly.

The minister highlighted that there are pending tax cases amounting to Rs2,700 billion across various appellate forums, including Commissioners’ Appeals, Appellate Tribunals, High Courts, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He said that the government was open to suggestions from the opposition and other stakeholders regarding the bill. He added that expanding of tax base was necessary for the strengthening of the country’s economy.

Azam Tarar said that the Tax Bar Association had been consulted regarding the proposed bill.

Opposition leader in the National Assembly Omer Ayub suggested that the purpose bill should be discussed in the Finance Committee.