Garhi Shahu and the area around Lahore Railway Station have a long tradition of small hotels and guest houses serving travellers, patients' families and visitors from other cities. These are modest businesses, often in rented buildings, with nightly cash guests and, increasingly, online bookings. On the tax side, accommodation is a service with its own PRA position.
Accommodation as a service
Hotel and guest-house accommodation is a taxable service in Punjab, administered by the Punjab Revenue Authority, subject to thresholds and categories. Small guest houses may fall below them; established hotels with several floors usually don't. We check your scale before advising.
Income records
| Income | Record |
|---|---|
| Room charges (walk-in) | Guest register with dates, rooms, amount |
| Online bookings | Platform statements (commission deducted) |
| Food served to guests | Restaurant service; PRA |
| Laundry, transport for guests | Service income |
Hotels are required to keep guest registers for security purposes. That register, with amounts, doubles as your income record.
Booking platforms
Platforms pay you the booking value minus commission. Record the full booking as income and the commission as a cost. See short-term rentals.
Costs
- Building rent (often the largest cost) — with agreement; withholding may apply if you're a prescribed person.
- Staff wages — receptionists, room boys, cooks.
- Utilities — electricity and gas, often commercial connections with advance tax on bills.
- Linen, laundry, toiletries, repairs.
- Furniture and air-conditioners — capital assets.
Licensing and police registration
Hotels and guest houses need local permissions and must comply with guest-registration requirements. Licence fees are business costs; fines aren't deductible.
Keep the guest register complete and legible. It's a legal requirement and the best evidence of your income — and it shows when occupancy was low.
Seasonal patterns
Occupancy rises with festivals, the Urs at nearby shrines, cricket matches and medical travel. Monthly figures show the pattern.
Long-stay guests and patients' families
Guest houses near hospitals and the station often host long-stay guests — families accompanying patients, or workers on assignments — at weekly or monthly rates. These stays still count as accommodation income. If a guest stays long enough to become effectively a tenant with a monthly agreement, the treatment may move closer to rent; the arrangement and services provided decide.
Food and tea for guests
Small hotels often run a kitchen serving guests and walk-ins. Food sales are restaurant services, potentially under PRA, and they need their own daily record alongside room income.
Buying the building
If you've been renting the hotel building and buy it, the purchase is a property transaction with advance tax at transfer, and the building becomes your asset. Rent stops as an expense from the month you own it.
Garhi Shahu — questions we get asked
Send your documents, get a fixed quote
WhatsApp a photo of your CNIC and whatever paperwork you have. We reply with the exact fee before any work starts.