Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in 2026: what changed for restaurants, salons and POS vendors

Answer first. In Sindh, from 1 July 2026, salons, beauty and slimming clinics, gyms and fitness centres face POS integration tests much like restaurants. One new test is a utility bill above Rs 50,000 in any month. Their rate is now a flat 8%. POS vendors must be registered and active with SRB. Anyone who supplies invoicing software that breaks SRB’s invoice rules faces Rs 100,000 to Rs 1 million. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, every restaurant, hotel and food business must use KPRA’s invoicing system. Card payments are taxed at 6%. New penalties reach Rs 500,000 or 5% of the tax per instance, and vendors can be jointly liable. In Balochistan, restaurants pay 8%, or 4% if every POS is linked to BRA’s portal. None of these systems is connected to FBR’s.

At a glance

Sindh (SRB)

Salons and gyms are now in. An SRB notification of 30 June 2026, effective 1 July, rewrote parts of the Online Integration of Business Rules 2022. The Schedule now catches beauty and fitness businesses: beauty parlours and salons, beauty and slimming clinics, gyms and fitness centres. Any one of these tests is enough:

• located in a hotel, motel or guest house
• a franchiser or franchisee
• more than one branch in Sindh
• located in an air-conditioned shopping mall
• a total utility bill above Rs 50,000 in any month of the financial year
• turnover above Rs 5 million in the preceding twelve tax periods

The utility bill test is new, and it is the one most likely to catch a single busy salon that never thought of itself as large. Rule 3 gives a business 45 days from when the integration requirement is notified to integrate all its points of sale.

A flat 8% for beauty services. The Sindh Finance Act 2026 substituted entry 45 of the Second Schedule. Beauty and physical well-being services are now at 8%. The old 5% rate for salons that had integrated their POS is gone.

Restaurants are unchanged. Restaurants still pay 8% where the customer pays by card, mobile wallet or QR, and 15% otherwise, and are caught by the same kind of tests, including turnover above Rs 5 million. Our SRB POS guide covers the restaurant tests in detail.

Lucky draws. Customers who verify an SRB invoice can enter SRB’s draw. Since 1 July the draw is held periodically rather than monthly, and winners are identified through their NIC and mobile number. SRB’s published terms describe the draws as preferably quarterly.

For integrators. SRB published version 1.0 guides for cloud-based and offline integration in mid-2026. Each invoice from an integrated POS also carries a Rs 1 POS service fee, under rule 5.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPRA)

Card rates. A notification of 13 May 2026 changed the rates for restaurants and hotels. Local non-corporate restaurants and hotels pay 10% without input tax adjustment. They pay 6% where the customer pays by card, mobile wallet, QR or online banking into the declared business account. Corporate businesses also get 6% on such payments, with the standard rate on cash. Neither reduced rate allows input tax adjustment or refund.

Everyone must integrate. The same entry adds a mandatory condition. Every restaurant, hotel, food or similar business must issue its invoices through KPRA’s Restaurant Invoice Management System (RIMS), its Invoice Management and Reporting System (IMRS), or another prescribed system. There is no turnover threshold.

New penalties. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Act 2026, gazetted on 2 July 2026, added:

Delivery apps. A KPRA notification of 27 June 2026 makes food delivery platforms collect the sales tax on orders they carry, including orders from home chefs and unregistered restaurants.

A claim still circulates that KP restaurants on RIMS pay 5% instead of 8%. That comes from a 2020 announcement and is not the current rate.

Balochistan (BRA)

Who must integrate. A BRA notification of 3 February 2026 replaced the list of who must integrate under Balochistan’s Online Integration of Business Rules 2022. It covers restaurants in hotels, international franchisers and franchisees, restaurants with more than one branch in Balochistan, outlets in air-conditioned malls, restaurants selling through online marketplaces, restaurants with turnover above Rs 5 million, beauty parlours and clinics, and health centres and gyms.

Rates from 1 July 2026. BRA Circular No. 01/U-02/2026 of 6 July 2026 sets out the new restaurant rates under the Balochistan Finance Act 2026:

• 8% for restaurants, cafés, coffee houses, food huts, ice-cream shops and eateries, with no input tax adjustment.
• 4% where the restaurant installs POS machines for electronic invoices, links every one of them to BRA’s web portal, and issues no bill except through that POS. No input tax adjustment either.
• The 4% rate is not available to restaurants inside a hotel, motel, guest house or club whose services are taxable, or to franchisers and franchisees.
• Marriage halls, lawns, pandal and shamiana services pay Rs 10,000 per event or 4% of the service fee, whichever is higher.

Unlike Punjab, Sindh and KP, Balochistan’s lower rate depends on the POS link, not on how the customer pays. Press reports describe notices to Quetta restaurants in July and September 2026 over integration.

POS vendors are now on the hook

The most important shift for the software side is that provinces now hold vendors responsible, not only the businesses they serve.

• Sindh. New rule 8 says a business must use a POS vendor that is registered with SRB, has a declared address in Sindh, and is on SRB’s active taxpayer list. A franchisee of a foreign business can ask SRB to relax this. The vendor must make sure printed invoices meet SRB’s format. New serial 2AA of the Sindh Act fines anyone who designs, develops, customises or supplies invoicing software that issues non-conforming invoices. The fine is Rs 100,000 to Rs 1 million.
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Under the KP Finance Act 2026, an integrator or POS provider that ignores signs of hidden sales can be jointly liable for the unpaid tax, penalty and surcharge. Vendors who fail to integrate or maintain the system can also be fined.

If you buy a POS for outlets in these provinces, ask the vendor for their provincial registration and active status in writing before you sign.

The pattern across provinces

• Documented sales cost less. Every province now charges a lower rate when the sale is digital or the POS is linked, usually with no input tax.
• Integration is spreading beyond restaurants. Salons, gyms, clinics and delivery platforms are now in scope in several provinces.
• Each province runs its own system. Federal plans for one national integration regime remain a draft. SRO 288(I)/2026, an FBR draft on income tax integration, was opposed by the provincial authorities in March 2026 and has not been finalised.

What to do if you sell in several provinces

1. Map each outlet to its authority. Goods go to FBR. Services go to the province where they are provided.
2. Check each outlet against that province’s tests. Turnover, branches, mall location, franchise status and, in Sindh, the utility bill.
3. Set rates by province and payment method. Card, cash and POS-linked rates all differ.
4. Check your POS vendor’s provincial status. Registration and active status in Sindh; maintenance obligations in KP.
5. Keep one view of everything. eInvoicePro handles FBR digital invoicing alongside PRA E-IMS and SRB POS, so a business that sells goods and services in more than one place can see its invoices together.

Punjab had its own set of changes this year. Our post on what changed at PRA in 2026 covers them.

FAQs

Do salons in Sindh now need SRB POS integration? Many do. From 1 July 2026, beauty parlours, salons, beauty and slimming clinics, gyms and fitness centres are caught if they are in a hotel or air-conditioned mall, are a franchise, have more than one branch in Sindh, have a utility bill above Rs 50,000 in any month of the financial year, or have turnover above Rs 5 million.

What is the KPRA rate for restaurant card payments in 2026? 6% without input tax adjustment where payment is received by card, mobile wallet, QR or online banking into the declared business account. Local non-corporate restaurants pay 10% otherwise; corporate businesses pay the standard rate on cash.

How does a Balochistan restaurant get the 4% rate? By installing POS machines, linking every one to BRA’s web portal, and issuing no bill except through that POS. The rate is not available to restaurants inside hotels, motels, guest houses or clubs, or to franchisers and franchisees. The rate without this is 8%.

Can a POS vendor be fined in Sindh? Yes. Since 1 July 2026, anyone who designs, develops, customises or supplies invoicing software that issues invoices not meeting SRB’s rules faces a penalty of Rs 100,000 to Rs 1 million.

Does FBR digital invoicing cover provincial services tax? No. SRB, KPRA and BRA run their own systems under provincial law. A business that sells services in these provinces reports to them separately.

Related reading: the SRB POS guide, eInvoicePro for SRB POS and FBR invoicing at the retail counter.