PRA to set up digital cell to curb tax evasion

LAHORE: The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has announced plans to set up a Digital Central Monitoring Cell to strengthen oversight of tax payments and curb tax evasion in the province. A PRA spokesperson said the new cell would continuously track tax payments and business records across the services sector with a particular focus on local and international food chains. These businesses will undergo detailed digital scrutiny, including a comparative review of their digital and cash payment records, aimed at detecting underreported sales, falsified records and understated tax liabilities. The authority will also examine gaps between the actual scale of business activity and the figures declared for tax purposes, cross-referencing financial data from multiple sources to flag potential evasion. Tax returns, payments and declared business activity will be checked against one another for consistency, and both digital and cash transactions will fall under the new monitoring framework. The spokesperson said the PRA is committed to deploying digital technology on a wide scale to prevent tax evasion and fraudulent practices, adding that the move is part of a broader effort to tighten enforcement and ensure accurate tax collection from the services sector. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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