Row between Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) and Inland Revenue Services (IRS) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is heating up; the PRA has warned the Chief Commissioners of IRS in Punjab to stop its employees from making unconstitutional intrusion in the tax management of the province of Punjab, especially with regard to levy of sales tax on restaurants "Otherwise, PRA will be constrained to invoke the prescribed course of law against such employees individually," said a letter written by the PRA to the Chief Commissioners of Inland Revenue Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Lahore, regional tax offices of Lahore (I and 2), Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha and Bahawalnagar.
Sources in the Authority told Business Recorder here on Wednesday, that through letter the Authority had requested the high-ups that the Inland Revenue officials working in their respective jurisdiction may be advised not to misguide, mislead, harass or intimidate the restaurant businesses in the province of Punjab in connection with the payment of Punjab sales tax on their services from 06-10-2012 onwards.
The letter said that PRA had received several communications from the restaurants from Punjab intimating that they were being warned and frightened with written letters, notices and telephonic pressures from IR functionaries pressing them to pay sales tax to FBR. 'It is clarified that all such letters, notices and efforts are unlawful ab initio and infringe upon the constitutional jurisdiction and functional autonomy of the province of Punjab. PRA does not accept any distortion or tell-tale advice or clarification issued by any authority or forum against the constitutional spirit of provincialisation of sales tax on services,' the letter added.