Daily Times

As the wedding season kicks off and winter approaches, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has launched a targeted monitoring and enforcement drive in wedding halls and restaurants across the province.

The initiative, directed by KPRA’s Director General Fauzia Iqbal, aims at enhancing tax compliance within these sectors during this peak business period.

Teams of KPRA are conducting visits to wedding halls and restaurants in Peshawar and other districts to check records and educate management on sales tax on services. The teams are also issuing instructions to ensure that the management of the businesses pay their sales tax on services based on their actual sales, avoid tax evasion and underreporting, and submit their monthly sales returns on time.

According to a statement from KPRA’s communication wing on Wednesday, the campaign aims at enhancing tax compliance in these sectors due to the increase in business activities in restaurants with the approach of winter and the onset of the wedding season in the region. Teams comprising KPRA officers, including assistant collectors and inspectors, have been tasked with visiting wedding halls and restaurants as part of this special drive to improve compliance through in-person visits and to provide on-the-spot support to management by addressing their issues directly.

Director General KPRA, Fauzia Iqbal, highlighted in her statement that the timely payment of sales tax on services is essential for a financially self-reliant Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We urge taxpayers and the business community to pay their taxes on time, submit their returns regularly, and play their role in the development of our country,” she stated.

To make tax compliance easier for wedding halls, KPRA has introduced a fixed tax regime alongside the percentage-based system. Under this new regime, wedding halls have been categorized based on their sizes, with a fixed tax applied to each category. This tax is to be collected from clients on a per-event basis and deposited directly into KPRA’s account.

Fouzia Iqbal emphasized that KPRA is committed to making the tax payment process simpler and more accessible. “Our teams are here to guide taxpayers and are actively reaching out to provide assistance,” she assured.