Is PRA the same as FBR?

No. The FBR is federal and taxes goods. The PRA is the Punjab provincial authority and taxes services in Punjab, under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012. They are separate registrations and separate invoicing systems.

Does my restaurant have to integrate with PRA?

If it is registered for Punjab sales tax on services and meets the restaurant turnover threshold, which a 2024 amendment set at six million rupees a year, then yes. Confirm the current threshold with the PRA, since it has changed.

What is e-IMS and what is RIMS?

e-IMS is PRA's Electronic Invoice Monitoring System, which connects your point of sale to PRA's server for real-time reporting. RIMS is the restaurant version of it, built by the Punjab Information Technology Board.

How does a customer verify a PRA invoice?

Each receipt prints a QR code or barcode and a PRA invoice number. The customer scans it in the PRA Sahulat app, which confirms the invoice is genuine and that the tax was deposited.

What sales-tax rate applies to my service?

The standard PRA rate on services has been sixteen percent, with reduced rates for some services and a lower restaurant rate on card or digital payments. Rates change in the annual Punjab Finance Act, so confirm the current rate for your service and payment method.

I sell goods and services. Who do I report to?

Goods are federal, so they go to the FBR. Services in Punjab go to the PRA. A business doing both registers with both and follows each one's invoicing rules. One system that handles both keeps it manageable.

Guide · PRA

PRA invoicing for Punjab services, explained

Why services in Punjab are taxed by the PRA and not the FBR, who has to use the electronic invoice monitoring system, and how to connect your point of sale. Written for business owners.

Last updated: 19 June 20267 min read

The Punjab Revenue Authority, or PRA, collects sales tax on services in Punjab. If you run a service business such as a restaurant or a salon, your sales tax is a provincial matter handled by the PRA, not the federal FBR. For in-scope businesses, the PRA requires a real-time electronic invoice monitoring system that reports each sale and prints a verifiable receipt. This guide explains who is covered, what the system is, and how to integrate.

PRA, FBR, and who taxes what

Pakistan splits sales tax in two. Sales tax on goods is federal and handled by the FBR. Sales tax on services is provincial, and in Punjab that is the PRA, set up under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012, which is Act XLII of 2012.

This matters because the two systems are separate registrations with separate invoicing. A restaurant in Lahore deals with the PRA for its service sales. A shop selling goods deals with the FBR. A business that does both can be registered with both, and each has its own real-time invoicing rule.

Who needs PRA invoicing

PRA invoicing applies to service businesses registered for Punjab sales tax on services, such as restaurants, salons and hotels. Whether you must connect to the monitoring system depends mainly on your turnover, and the thresholds have moved, so treat the numbers below as the current position to confirm rather than fixed law.

Restaurants at or above the restaurant turnover threshold, which a 2024 amendment lowered to six million rupees a year.
Other service businesses have generally come under the system at ten million rupees a year.
You must hold PRA sales-tax-on-services registration before you integrate.
If you only sell goods, you are not under the PRA for that. Goods are federal, under the FBR.

What the e-IMS and RIMS are

PRA runs an Electronic Invoice Monitoring System, usually shortened to e-IMS. The version built for restaurants is the Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System, or RIMS, which the Punjab Information Technology Board built and rolled out from 2015.

The idea is the same as the federal POS rules. Your billing system connects to PRA's central server over the internet, every sale generates a PRA invoice number in real time, and the receipt carries a QR code or barcode and that number. The customer can scan it in the PRA Sahulat app to confirm the invoice is real and the tax was deposited.

How to integrate, step by step

Integration runs through PRA's own portals and a connected point of sale. The steps below are the usual path from registration to live reporting.

Register with PRA for sales tax on services. Enroll on PRA's e-registration portal at reg.pra.punjab.gov.pk to get your Punjab sales-tax-on-services registration. This comes before any invoice-monitoring step, and you then file a monthly PRA return, which has generally been due by the 15th of the following month.
Enroll your outlet in the e-IMS. Register the business and its sales points in PRA's Electronic Invoice Monitoring System, the restaurant version of which is called RIMS, through PRA's e-services. PRA usually issues a notice to in-scope businesses with a window to install the system.
Connect your POS to PRA's server. Your computerised billing system is linked to PRA's central server over the internet so invoice data is sent in real time. This is normally done through a PRA-integrated POS provider rather than building it yourself.
Generate a PRA invoice number on every sale. At checkout the till creates the invoice, requests a PRA invoice number, and PRA records the sale on its server as it happens.
Print the QR code and PRA number on the receipt. Each customer receipt prints a QR code or barcode and the PRA invoice number. The customer can scan it in the PRA Sahulat app to confirm the invoice is genuine and the tax was deposited.
Keep reporting and filing. Real-time data feeds PRA's monitoring and helps prepare your monthly return, which you still file each month, with the 15th the usual due date. Keep the integration live, because PRA issues notices and fines to in-scope businesses that do not install it.

Rates you will see

The standard PRA rate on services has been sixteen percent. Some services carry a reduced rate, and restaurants in particular have had a lower rate on payments made by card or other digital means, with cash charged at the higher rate, to encourage documented payment.

Rates are set each year in the Punjab Finance Act and do change. A recent provincial budget proposed raising the restaurant card rate, so check the rate in force for your service and payment type rather than relying on a figure from an article. Your invoicing system should let you apply the right rate by service and payment method, and keep up as the rates change.

If you also operate outside Punjab

PRA only covers Punjab. Each province runs its own services tax body, so the same restaurant chain can face the PRA in Punjab and the Sindh Revenue Board in Sindh, each with its own registration, system and rates. The Sindh restaurant rate, for example, has been a standard fifteen percent with a lower rate on card payments, and provinces revise these in their own budgets.

If you operate across provinces, the practical need is one system that can register sales under the right authority and apply each one's rates and invoice format, rather than a separate tool per province.