Getting a Facial in Punjab? PRA Says Check Your Bill or You're Being Overcharged

Punjab's tax authority just put beauty parlours, spas and aesthetic clinics on notice, and the message for customers is just as blunt: start reading your receipts.

LAHORE: The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) issued fresh guidelines this week directing aesthetic clinics, spas, beauty salons and beauty parlours across the province to prominently display the rules at their cash counters. A PRA spokesperson confirmed the move to media on Monday, framing it as a consumer-protection push as much as a tax-compliance drive.

Punjab Beauty Salon Tax Explained

Here's the number that matters: a 5% Punjab Sales Tax applies to services offered by aesthetic clinics, spas, beauty parlours, salons and skin and laser treatment providers. That rate isn't new PRA has taxed air-conditioned beauty establishments at 5% for years under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act but plenty of customers walk out of these businesses with no idea what they're actually being charged for.

Every relevant business now needs PRA registration to operate legally. Skip that step, and operators face strict legal action, the spokesperson warned, signaling PRA intends to enforce this rather than let it sit as a paper directive.

Also Read: PRA Sets All-Time Tax Collection Record at Rs367 Billion in FY26

The real teeth in this announcement sit with consumers, though. PRA wants customers actively checking their bills, matching the sales tax charged against the 5% rate, and pushing back the moment a salon tries to inflate that number. Charging more than the applicable rate for any sector counts as a legal offence, full stop.

Demand a Digital Receipt

Receipts matter just as much as rates here. PRA explicitly ruled out temporary or handwritten slips customers should demand a proper digital receipt every time they pay for a treatment, facial, or laser session. A scribbled chit on notepaper isn't just unprofessional; under these guidelines, it's a red flag.

Payment refusal triggers its own complaint channel. Any business that won't accept card or digital payment opens itself up to a consumer complaint through the PRA Sahulat App or PRA's social media platforms giving frustrated customers a direct line to regulators instead of just walking away annoyed.

One line from the spokesperson cuts through the entire announcement: the tax collected from consumers never belongs to the business. It's the government's money, collected on the salon's behalf, and Punjab law requires depositing it with the government not pocketing it as extra revenue disguised as a tax line-item.

That distinction is exactly why these guidelines exist. Plenty of aesthetic businesses in Punjab have likely been charging customers a "tax" that either doesn't match the real 5% rate or never reaches PRA's coffers at all. Mandatory display at the cash counter turns every customer into a potential auditor, forcing transparency at the exact moment money changes hands.

For anyone booking a spa day or a laser session in Punjab, the takeaway is simple: look at the receipt before you pay, confirm the tax line reads 5%, and don't accept a handwritten slip as a substitute for a proper digital one.