Visibility of price, sales tax on products mandatory: FBR

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has directed manufacturers and importers of 56 goods/products specified in the Third Schedule of the Sales Tax Act to ensure that the retail price and amount of sales tax is clearly displayed on the items.

According to the sales tax general order (STGO) 8 of 2026 issued on Monday, the FBR has announced that the taxable supplies and imports of goods specified in the Third Schedule are chargeable to sales tax at the rate of 18 percent of the retail price, and the retail price, along with the amount of sales tax, is required to be legibly, prominently and indelibly printed or embossed by the manufacturer or in the case of imported goods by the importer on each article’s packet, container, package, cover or label, as the case may be.

The FBR has observed that in a number of cases the retail price on goods specified in the Third Schedule is either not printed, not clearly visible, or obscured by the background, monogram, design, colour scheme or other printed material, making it difficult toreadilyascertaintheretailpriceforthepurposesoflevyandcollectionofsalestax.

The FBR, therefore, directs all manufacturers and importers of goods specified in the Third Schedule to the Sales Tax Act to ensure that the retail price and the amount of sales tax are displayed in a clear, legible, prominent and indelible manner, using a font size and colour that distinctly contrasts with the background and remain readily visible and easily readable to the naked eye.

The retail price and the amount of sales tax shall not be concealed, obscured or rendered unreadable by any design, monogram, sticker, wrapper or any other materialaf fixed on the goods or their packing.

The Mandatory Printing Specifications attached shall be complied with in letter and spirit.

Any contravention of the above directions shall entail action under the relevant provisions of the Sales Tax Act 1990 and the rules made there under.

In case of any ambiguity regarding the implementation or interpretation of this general order, the people concerned may contact the lR-Policy Wing, Federal Board of Revenue, for clarification.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026